No Need to Star Scream
by Overnight Sensation
Summary: Starscream is left abandoned in Japan. With his life fading away, only a miracle can save him...Unfortunately for him, he is discovered by the greatest scientific genius in the universe.     This was complete & on my hard drive, so I thought I'd post it.
1. Chapter 1

**No Need to (Star)Scream**

**Chapter 1**

The island of Okinawa, Japan was used to the constant thundering roars of aircraft. They had to be, since for many years, the island had been the home of stationed United States military bases- which included air bases. Throughout the day, and the night, the locals around Okinawa island would hear jet engines tearing through the night sky like a sword made of lightning cutting through the stars, as one old man had once said.

So, on one fateful day, when a trio of jets made their first appearance along the shore of Okinawa island, the natives didn't bat an eyelid, for they figured it was just another group of F-15 jets that belonged to the United States Air Force. The jets tore through the sky, with their thrusters burning precious fuel, much of which had been burned up on their journey, which had been a particularly long trip; a trip that would have mystified and disturbed the people of Okinawa, had they known where the three planes came from. The jets were too high in the sky for the locals to see clearly as they sped past the small towns and villages of the island, but upon closer inspection, the locals would have noticed that the three jets were coloured in traditional military colours. In fact, their colours were very flamboyant, especially for military aircraft. A red and white F-15 jet led a mainly blue jet with red livery trimming, which was flying next to a black jet that had purple livery scattered among its black canvas, all of which bore no resemblance to any aircraft that were currently in service by any country that had an air force.

However, these jets were no ordinary jets, for these three planes had no pilots. Completely empty of any pilots or co-pilots in the cockpits of the three jets, they still carried on along their intended destination despite that fact, with their controls and dials working as if human hands manipulated them. These three jets were far from mere aircraft, but they were instead three members of the alien race known as Decepticons; a group of evil robots from the planet Cybertron, who had made Earth their temporary home out of sheer necessity rather than by choice. The three Decepticons, known as Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker, had traveled a great distance from the American state of Oregon, crossing the Pacific Ocean to finally arrive in Japanese airspace were now on their last leg of their journey.

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" The black jet, Skywarp asked via his radio. "Are we there yet?"

"Skywarp, will you shut up?" The red and white jet known as Starscream shrieked. "I tire of your inane whining!"

"Heh, just asking." Skywarp called back to the lead plane.

"Why don't you check your radar? Or are you too stupid for that?" Starscream spat venomously.

"Both of you cease your childish bickering!" A low voice that sounded like it was made from gravel then announced on the Decepticon airwaves. "You are Decepticons, not prattling Earth children!"

The command had come from the third jet, the blue Thundercracker. However, it was not Thundercracker who had made the remark that did actually cause the other two jets to stop their argument. The voice belonged to a passenger inside the cockpit of the blue jet that, upon inspection by a human, would've been a disturbing sight to behold. Sitting in the large pilot's chair in Thundercracker's cockpit was a large silver gun, but much like the jets, was no mere Earthen construct, but instead the Decepticon leader- the tyrannical Megatron.

"Forgive me, Megatron." Starscream announced sarcastically. "I had forgotten you were there. After all, a leader usually leads his troops on a mission, as opposed to taking the easy way of simply riding along to battle."

"Due to our low energy reserves, I am being economical." Megatron explained. "A true leader is wise enough to know when to pick his times for any given scenario. With fuel so low, I have chosen this time to save my fuel reserves."

"Then why must we rocket half way around the world while you sit comfortably?" Starscream asked.

"The reason is simple, Starscream," began Megatron. "You are dispensable."

The robots chatter was suddenly brought to a conclusion when the three jets' radios began to crackle, then a few moments later, the voice of an American male ran through the speakers of their radios in a communication to the three jets.

"This is Kadena Air Force base to unidentified aircraft. You are in restricted airspace, I repeat, you are in restricted airspace. Please give us your I.D. and flight mission, then leave the area. Over."

"Seems like we're scaring the locals." Thundercracker announced to his comrades in a low voice.

"Heh, it'll soon be time for the fun to begin, Thundercracker." Skywarp chuckled excitedly.

The radio message from Kadena Air Force base was repeated by the man again, almost as if he was reading a script, but once again, the Decepticons ignored the attempted communicaton as per Megatron's orders. Thanks to their advanced radio technology, the Decepticons listened on further to a radio message made on the air force base, with orders for a pair of aircraft to launch and make visual contact with the three mysterious jets. But as the order was going out, and the troops on the ground were preparing to mobilize, the Decepticons made visual contact with the airbase themselves, as after the final few meters of blurred green of the trees they were passing, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp finally saw the large expanse of concrete and buildings that made up the Kadena Air Force base.

"We've arrived." Starscream announced to the other three Decepticons.

"Right," Megatron replied. "Then you know what to do. Decepticons, attack!"

On Megatron's command, the three jets immediately tilted forwards, with the fronts of their nose cones pointing down towards the air force base as they quickly dropped towards the air force base with a screech of their jet engines. On the ground, members of the American air force had gathered around on the tarmac, armed with machine guns and other artillery, in case of an attack by the incoming UFOs. But, what was approaching them was beyond even their wildest dreams, for the three jets continued to dive towards the ground before a hail of cluster bombs and laser fire began to rain down towards them. The Decepticons' electronic ears were filled with the cries of panic, following the ear splitting crunch of explosions from their artillery as they watched the armed personnel who had been waiting for them had instead turned and began to run for cover from the safety of the Decepticons' initial assault. Realizing that they had sent their prey into a panic, the Decepticons now pressed on their advantage as they accelerated even further towards the ground, where with only mere feet before it looked as if they would crash towards the ground, Starscream and Skywarp transformed into the towering deadly robots that they were. Skidding across the tarmac before they finally stopped, the pair stood, towering over everything in the center of the air base before the piercing drone of an alarm rang out. The pair looked on to see that more air force personnel had rushed from the many buildings that comprised the air base, who to the pair of Decepticons resembled small ants scurrying out of their nest. Holding more artillery, the armed men aimed their weapons at the two Decepticons before they began to fire upon the pair, who merely laughed as the earthen bullets simply bounced off their chassis, doing nothing more than chipping at the finish of their paintwork.

"You little worms want to see firepower?" Skywarp asked wickedly. "I'll show you firepower!"

Skywarp raised both of his arms towards a group of men that stood before him. Mounted on Skywarp's arms were two large menacingly looking guns, the length of which went from just above his wrists, all the way up to his shoulders. With his arms raised towards the guards, Skywarp had ultimately aimed his weapons towards the men, who fearfully looked on before Skywarp let out a cackle, which was followed by a frightening shower of purple balls of energy that now began to fire from his arm mounted machine guns. The artillery from Skywarp's weapons sent the military personnel retreating, but not before many of them were mowed down in multiple sprays of blood. Standing beside Skywarp quietly smirking at the panic that Skywarp had sent the humans into, Starscream finally acted as he raised his left arm which housed his own arm mounted laser cannon, which he fired at a small group of men who ran past him in a bid to retreat from Skywarp. With a flash of purple energy, a laser bolt thundered from Starscream's own cannon, catching the four men dead on, who screamed with their final breaths as they were turned to nothing more but ash as they were coldly vapourised. The pair continued to watch the many droves of military men and women race around in a panic as they attempted to rally back against the invaders, who simply stood in the spots they had arrived on, not feeling the need to move, or do much, aside from pick off the ranks of the air force base one wave at a time. However, the pounding footsteps of their leader, Megatron soon changed that.

"Have you both forgotten why we have come here?" Megatron growled as he approached them, with Thundercracker close behind him. "We are here for Kendena's aviation fuel and the special reinforced metal alloy they were given to test by the Japanese scientists. Starscream, cease this nonsense and get to work! You can start by shutting off that annoying alarm!"

"Hmph, as you command, leader." Starscream said with spite. "Watch, I shall do your job for you- again."

This time raising his right arm into the air, Starscream raised his other laser weapon towards the control tower of the air base. Letting off the trigger, the Decepticons watched as Starscream fired a bolt of purple energy from his arm mounted laser weapon, where it plunged into the control tower, but rather than exploding, the Decepticons saw that all the lights inside the tower simply went off, as if turned off by the flick of a switch. At the same time that this happened, the alarms and flashing lights that were going off around the air base had been shut off as they, much like the control tower, had become the victim of Starscream's deadly null-ray; a weapon that disrupted the flow of electricity, effectively rendering it useless.

"You should be cautious of your words, Starscream." Megatron announced. "That sword of a tongue may someday seal your fate. Now, get to work!"

Without another word, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp rushed away from Megatron to begin their search of the air base for the items that Megatron desired, while the Decepticon leader stood in the center of the air base, watching them. Suddenly, he felt a pelting on his back, as if a rain storm began to unleash itself on his large back; he turned around before he let out a grin to see another group of guards standing before him, still firing their machine guns on him. Looking past the men, Megatron noticed a heavy tank now rumbling towards them, with the motors that urged its treads forwards emitting an ominous chugging noise. While this would have intimidated most invaders, the mighty Megatron stood poised before his opposition, with his fists resting on his black hip plates.

Without another word, Megatron looked towards the group of men before he lashed out at them as his right leg swung forwards, allowing his giant foot to swing at them, sending them to the ground in fear without actually needing to kick them as they fell from the fright of the giant robot's act. He looked towards the tank, which had now slowly brought itself to a halt, then with the droning whir of hydraulics, the tank's cannon positioned itself for Megatron's chest. A thunderous boom followed next, filling the air with an echo as a flash emitted from the tank's cannon, followed by a large shell that flew through the air, colliding with Megatron's chest, which to its credit caused Megatron to stumble back, following a loud clang as the shell collided with the reinforced armour of Megatron's chest plate, forcing the silver giant to let out a snarl of annoyance at his foes. But now, it was Megatron's turn to attack again, a fact that was obvious when Megatron raised the arm that always carried his large, powerful fusion cannon. The men who were still lying on the ground from Megatron's kick now looked up from the ground in alarm as they heard a sound that resembled the noise of charging energy, which also caused one of the men from inside of the tank to pop up from out a hatch above the tank's cannon. They all looked on fearfully to see that purple energy began to build inside the black cannon, illuminating the interior of it with a purple glow; then, just as the men began to jump to their feet in an attempt to retreat, Megatron unleashed his fury in the form of a powerful blast of fusion energy which erupted from his cannon. The blast hit the ground where his opponent's were, tearing the concrete from the ground. The armed who began to scurry away like disturbed vermin were tossed up into the air by the powerful blast, as their skin as invaded by the burning warmth of the fusion energy, which had encased all of them in a purple glow. Seconds later, the purple fusion energy faded away, and Megatron cackled evilly as charred remains of the tank and the men inside rained down towards the broken ground before him- the men who were running from Megatron had suffered perhaps a more painful fate as the heat, long with the fusion energy of Megatron's attack caused them to burn until they were vaporized.

Now, for the first time since his arrival, Megatron noticed that all among the airbase was silent. Starscream's null ray had silenced the alarms, as well as all radio contact around the base. There were also no humans running around the Decepticons any longer, nor was there the sound of any machine gun fire, or rumbling of tanks or other armed forces. Within a matter of minutes, Megatron thought, the airbase had been brought to its knees, without more than a few rounds of fire expended from his and his warrior's weapons. He felt satisfied with the results, and with that feeling now etched in his computer brain, Megatron turned back around, leaving the smoldering remains of his destruction to instead find his jet warriors, whom he expected to be hard at work gathering up the materials he required. Following a short walk, Megatron found the trio in a large aircraft hanger, with Skywarp transformed into his jet form, with a cargo compartment open while Starscream and Thundercracker loaded large metal girders into the cargo hold.

"Ah, you've found the alloy." Megatron announced with a clenched fist. "Well done. With this new reinforced steel, perhaps we will be able to build a new space craft so that we can leave this miserable planet. Once you're done loading the steel, purge this base of its energy sources, then we shall take our leave."

Starscream looked over his shoulder to Megatron, ready to make a retort to his leader's orders, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he paused for a moment. Megatron had noticed this, and his eyes narrowed, before something else had caught his attention- the sound of an approaching jet. The Decepticon leader turned around before he took a step out into the open air, where he let out a cry of desperation to see a large, alien jet fast approaching. Hearing Megatron's cry, Starscream and Thundercracker left Skywarp in the air, before they rushed out to join their leader as they saw the jet swoop just above the ground, where it dropped their enemy, the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime feet first to the ground. Alongside him was the mostly white Autobot scientist, Wheeljack. Finally, the jet itself transformed into a heavily armoured Autobot, who landed gracefully behind Optimus Prime and Wheeljack. Known as Jetfire, the Autobot Air Guardian towered above the other Transformers before him as each side now stood before once another in a stand off.

"Autobots!" Megatron roared.

"Your shopping trip's been canceled, Megatron." Optimus Prime boldly announced. "It's time to put what you're stealing back on the shelf."

"And who will make me, Prime?" Megatron replied. "You? I think not! Decepticons, attack!"

With those words, a new battle began as Megatron leaped into the air, where his body twisted and contorted as Megatron turned himself into his laser cannon form- only triple the size he was when he lay inside Thundercracker's cockpit. Landed in Starscream's hands, Starscream aimed the large silver laser cannon at the Autobot trio before squeezing the trigger, where a powerful bolt of fusion energy flew from Megatron, towards their enemies. Immediately, the Autobots scattered in three different directions- Wheeljack to the right, while Jetfire leaped up into the air to avoid the blast. Optimus Prime meanwhile leaped to his left, before then rushing towards Starscream who looked at the charging Autobot in shock. Seeing Optimus Prime fast approaching, Megatron once again rose to the occasion as he leaped out of Starscream's hands and transformed back to his robot mode, standing before Optimus Prime who stopped in mid stride to face his nemesis face to face.

"I'm flattered, Prime." Megatron began. "I come as far as Japan, and you still insist on following me."

"I've followed you from one side of the galaxy and back to ensure you can be stopped, Megatron." Optimus Prime spat in response.

"Then you'll follow me to your grave, Prime. Defend yourself!"

With that, Megatron lashed out at his most hated enemy with a closed fist aimed for Optimus Prime's chest. Seeing Megatron's attempt, Optimus Prime defended himself with rapid reflexes and a strong grip as he caught Megatron's black fist, just before it made contact with his chest. Gripping Megatron's fist tightly, Optimus Prime began to squeeze it as he then exerted the strength in his arm, pushing Megatron's fist back, forcing Megatron to stumble back as Optimus Prime released his hold of the Decepticon leader. Megatron shook his head, clearing his mind to focus. He looked towards Optimus Prime who was lurched slightly forwards with open hands, as he was ready for whatever Megatron may dish out next. Megatron let a small grin tug at the right side of his lips before he raised his left hand into the air, where it retracted into his arm before a large, electric mace slid out from his arm, where it crackled threateningly with purple energy. He began to swing it above his head, then Megatron rushed for Optimus Prime, who this time was too slow for Megatron as the Decepticon leader lashed out with his mace, allowing the spiked energy ball that was attached to an electric chain to collide with Optimus Prime's face with such force that metal chips flew off his face as he was sent crashing to a knee on the ground while Megatron now laughed triumphantly.

Optimus Prime looked from Megatron, who seemed more interested in gloating for the moment, to view the rest of the battle. Starscream and Wheeljack were some distance away, wrestling to overpower each other, while Thundercracker could be heard high in the sky, along with Jetfire as the two were engaged in a high altitude struggle of their own. That left he and Megatron to battle it out one on one.

"What's wrong, Prime?" Megatron chuckled. "Giving up already? You're getting too old for this."

"I'll show you who's outdated, Megatron." Optimus Prime replied sharply.

Quickly, Optimus Prime sprang up from his knees, landing back onto his feet, where he grabbed his large black laser cannon that had up until this point been strapped onto his back by a magnet. Before Megatron could react, Optimus Prime aimed his laser cannon at Megatron where he allowed a blast of his own to collide with Megatron's waist, forcing Megatron to let out a wince of pain as he doubled over slightly. Now with an advantage of his own, Optimus wasted no time, for he charged at Megatron, slamming the side of his laser cannon into the side of Megatron's head, before striking at Megatron's face with a well placed knee, which forced Megatron to stumble back in a painful daze.

"Nrg, hypocrite." Megatron growled. "You talk of justice, but fight as dirty as a Decepticon."

Now with his mace put away, Megatron attempted a punch of his own for Optimus Prime, but once again, the Autobot leader was too quick for his opponent as he instead avoided the punch, only to fire another round from his laser cannon that forced Megatron to crash down onto the ground back first.

"You know what they say," Optimus Prime replied. "Never bring a mace to a gun fight, Megatron. You're done, Megatron. Surrender."

Slowly, Megatron propped himself up onto his elbow joints. He glared towards Optimus Prime, as well as the laser cannon that was pointed straight for his face, with every intention to be fired at a moments notice. But just then, his eyes focused on something else on Optimus Prime's left, before his gaze turned back towards Optimus Prime who continued to stand over the Decepticon leader to ensure he didn't attempt to resist.

"Perhaps you're right, Prime..." Megatron slowly began. "Perhaps it is time for me to throw in the towel after all these years. But then, you know what they say, don't you?"

Optimus Prime looked towards Megatron, narrowing his eyes at his enemy half in disdain, but also half in confusion. What exactly was Megatron getting at with such a remark. Unfortunately for Optimus Prime though, it took only a second longer to find out, for the sound of rapid machine gun fire echoed throughout the compound before Optimus Prime felt a hail of blistering hot rounds slam violently into his back. Crying out from the pain, Optimus Prime immediately fell to the ground, losing the grip on his laser cannon which now rolled towards Megatron. Groaning, Optimus Prime looked around to see Skywarp behind him, both barrels of his machine guns emitting steady streams of smoke from freshly fired rounds, before a shadow then appeared over Optimus Prime's frame. Looking up, Optimus Prime saw that Megatron once again stood over him, now aiming Optimus Prime's own laser cannon towards him.

"They say you should always have eyes in the back of your head, Prime." Megatron then announced. "Hm, but sadly for you, you'll never even open your eyes again after I'm done with you."

Optimus Prime attempted to lift himself to his feet, but even rising to his knees proved to be too much of a struggle, due to the damage Skywarp's artillery had taken on him. Instead, Optimus Prime dropped back down to the ground in a painful heap, too weak to now even move more than his head. The scene was noticed by Wheeljack, who let out a cry towards his leader in fear for his life. Slamming Starscream to the ground, Wheeljack attempted to rush to Optimus Prime's aid, but Starscream leaped from his hands and knees for Wheeljack, where he tackled the Autobot's mad scientist to the ground. With a violent crack, Starscream headbutted the back of Wheeljack's head, who then lay dazed on the ground, before Starscream then rushed over towards the group around Optimus Prime.

"No, wait!" Starscream called. "It should be I who has the pleasure of destroying Optimus Prime!"

"You?" Megatron spat with disdain. "Never."

"I find it interesting the only time you ever do anything is when he lies before your feet, ready to die, Megatron!" Starscream cried angrily. "You should let a real warrior have the honour of finishing him!"

"A real warrior?" Megatron roared, now taking his attention from Optimus Prime. "Perhaps I should personally school you in the warrior's arts- painfully."

Megatron and Starscream glared towards each other angrily as Skywarp looked on, somewhat dumbfounded to see another power struggle between his leader and his air commander. The pair continued to argue, causing Skywarp to turn his attention down towards Optimus Prime, who was still trying to muster the strength to rise back to his knees. Seeing this, Skywarp emitted a small grin as he aimed his machine guns towards Optimus Prime's head- an action that didn't go unseen to the two arguing Decepticons.

"Don't!" Megatron and Starscream snapped together. "That pleasure is reserved for me!"

Upon hearing each other state the same bold claim, Starscream and Megatron glared at each other once again. The pair seemed ready to actually between themselves as Skywarp noticed both Decepticons preparing to charge their weapons. But, before either of the two Decepticons could even hope to fire at the other, the scream of jets caught their attention. Together, the pair, along with Skywarp looked up to the sky in alarm to see Jetfire, in his jet mode once again, diving towards the trio. Immediately, the large jet unleashed a barrage of laser fire at the group, forcing Skywarp to teleport out of the way of the danger; but Megatron and Starscream were not as lucky. Caught by a well placed shot from Jetfire, Starscream felt his arm jerk in response as his null ray shot off a blast of paralyzing energy- catching Megatron dead on in the chest.

"Starscreeeam!" Was the last furious word to leave Megatron's vocal processor, before the large Decepticon felt to the ground, now paralyzed from the effects of Starscream's null ray.

Starscream looked to Megatron, seeing that the Decepticon leader now lay immobile on the ground. A closer look at Megatron's eyes showed that the red energy that usually burned brightly in them was now weakly flickering, due to the effects of Starscream's null ray before, with a groan, Megatron fully collapsed. Starscream grinned with triumph.

"Megatron has fallen!" The Decepticon jet shrieked excitedly. "Decepticons, hear me- I am your leader now!"

"You wanna tell us what to do then, Starscream?" A flustered Skywarp asked as he teleported beside Starscream. "Look!"

Starscream followed Skywarp's finger out a short distance away, where his eyes widened in surprise. During his own moment of glory, Starscream had failed to notice that Thundercracker had been shot down out of the sky by Jetfire, and was now painfully dragging himself from the ground. Worse still, Wheeljack had recovered, and along with Jetfire, who now stood on the ground, the pair began to regroup as they now charged for Starscream, Skywarp and the fallen Megatron. Immediately, the pair began to fire their weapons at the Decepticons.

"What do we do?" Skywarp cried.

"Silence!" Starscream cried. "Do not fear. We still have Prime beaten!"

Starscream raised his null ray towards the approaching Autobots, ready to fire on them. But before he could, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Don't, Skywarp!" Starscream snapped. "I've got a clean shot."

"Don't what?" Skywarp asked. "I-...Erm..."

"What?" Starscream snapped again. "What is your problem?"

Starscream looked to his left, expecting to see Skywarp still standing beside him, but as he looked, he saw the flickering image of the Decepticon jet, who seemed to teleport away. Starscream stood confused, before a movement behind him caught his attention, forcing Starscream to look over. He then let out a cry of fear as Optimus Prime's fist collided with his face with such force that Starscream immediately fell to the ground.

"If you're the new Decepticon leader," Optimus Prime began as he lowered down to grip Starscream by the throat. "Then I shall hold you accountable for the Decepticons' crimes against the galaxy."

Starscream looked into Optimus Prime's angered eyes with fear in his own while he felt Optimus Prime's vice like grip on his throat intensify before he was lifted off the ground. Now hanging limp in Optimus Prime's hand, Starscream desperately thought of a way out of his predicament.

"Don't...please..." Starscream whimpered. "I-I don't want to die!"

"He don't have to die." Wheeljack piped now, as both he and Jetfire surrounded Starscream. "I could always make a bomb casing out of him, or something."

"Never!" Starscream screeched.

Starscream couldn't take the pressure anymore. Completely surrounded, and at the mercy of the Autobots, Starscream quickly raised his arm mounted laser cannon, then he shot a blast from it so close to Optimus Prime's face, that the bright purple laser caused Optimus Prime to cry out in alarm as his electric eyes shut down momentarily from the glare of the bright energy. In a jerk reaction, Optimus Prime released his grip on Starscream, who dropped to his feet. Quickly, Starscream turned and fired the null ray on Jetfire, who fell limply to the ground, paralyzed, before Starscream finally turned his attention to Wheeljack, whom he shoved to the ground, then trampled over him as he began to run away.

"Decepticons, retreat!" Starscream cried in a panic, before he took off into the sky, transforming as he did.

The order didn't go unheard by Thundercracker, who had finally pulled himself back together and painfully rose to his feet. Looking on, Thundercracker frowned with confusion, for he saw the Autobots were momentarily leveled, but Starscream called for a retreat. He then noticed Skywarp teleport beside Megatron, who he lifted up into his arms as he prepared to leave.

"What's going on?" Thundercracker called to Skywarp. "Why'd Starscream call a retreat?"

"He couldn't take the heat, I guess." Skywarp replied.

Thundercracker scratched his chin in thought for a moment. Things had seemed to be going in their direction, but no the tables had turned completely and it seemed the Autobots had the advantage, despite looking to be on the ropes. But, with Megatron out of action, their fuel all but depleted, and the fact Thundercracker himself was battered from his dog fight with Jetfire, there didn't seem to be any other reasonable direction. They had to leave.

"Huh. Some leader he turned out to be!" Thundercracker called to Skywarp before he transformed.

Quickly, Thundercracker rolled along the battlefield, before he took off into the sky, making a retreat. Skywarp, with Megatron still in his arms, teleported from the battlefield, just as Optimus Prime and Wheeljack began to rise to their feet, where Wheeljack noticed Starscream flying making a quick swoop of the airbase as he prepared to leave.

"The creeps are retreating!" Wheeljack announced.

"Then let them go." Optimus Prime replied. "I don't think they have what they wanted. Besides, Jetfire needs assistance."

"Then just let me give Starscream a going away present." Wheeljack said in response.

Optimus Prime watched on to see Wheeljack aim his shoulder mounted cannon up into the air towards Starscream. Pressing a button on the cannon, Wheeljack fired the cannon, which launched a small circular disc high up into the sky, stopping only when it attached itself to the under carriage of Starscream's jet form, who hadn't seemed to have noticed. Together, both Optimus Prime and Wheeljack looked on as Starscream rocketed away from the airbase, before the Autobot scientist then turned to his leader.

"That little baby is something I cooked up." Wheeljack explained. "Don't look like much, but in about twenty Earth minutes, that thing will pump out enough umph to shoot Starscream straight out of the sky!"

"Well, a calling card is always nice, I suppose." Optimus Prime replied. "Now, let's tend to Jetfire."

A short time later, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp flew together once again. Starscream and Thundercracker flew slowly in their jet forms, while Skywarp quietly flew behind them, carrying the still damaged Megatron in his arms. The trio flew quietly, with the sound of their jet thrusters being the only sound from them, until that is, Thundercracker decided to speak up.

"Well, some leader you turned out to be." Thundercracker quipped sarcastically. "You shouldn't have, and seriously- you really shouldn't have."

"Shut up!" Starscream hissed painfully.

"Hahaha! Good one, Thundercracker." Skywarp chuckled. He continued to chuckle with amusement at the blue jet's remark until Megatron finally gathered enough strength to raise his head and speak for the first time since he was shot down.

"Listen to me closely, Starscream..." Megatron began.

"Megatron," Starscream announced hesitantly. "You're still alive..."

"Yes, Starscream." Megatron replied. "Which is more than what you'll be once I recover. I promise you, once I get my hands on you, you are going to wish Optimus Prime had left you to the mercy of that crackpot, Wheeljack!"

Starscream said nothing, instead he just groaned softly to himself. He had hoped that the shot he delivered to Megatron was enough to have terminated him, but alas, the old warhorse would live to see another day- and possibly Starscream's last. The red Decepticon jet felt the urge for some time away from the others; he prepared to raise the power in his engines, to speed off from the other Decepticons, but just as he was about to Starscream felt an unbelievable tear through him as an explosion erupted under him! The time had finally come for Wheeljack's explosive, and the small device had erupted in a brilliant explosion that tore through Starscream, who let out a piercing cry before he transformed and began to drop out of the sky in a smoking heap.

"Starscream!" Thundercracker cried in alarm.

"Damn!" Skywarp yelled in surprise. "What do we do?"

"Leave him." Megatron then announced, surprised the other two jets. "Forget about Starscream and return to headquarters. That fool has done enough damage. He can help himself."

With that, both Skywarp and Thundercracker continued on their flight path, while Starscream plummeted quickly towards the ground. Within seconds of the initial explosion, Starscream had lost consciousness, among the whooshing of air that filled his robotic ears as he dropped, along with his internal alarms that warned him of his critical damage and the fact he was plummeting from the sky. Then, all went dark for Starscream, with the last thing he heard to be a drawn out whine of a flat signal. His body continued to drop through the sky of Japan, with smoke trailing from the gaping hole that had been torn through his body, from his metallic stomach, up to just below his chest. Had he been alive, Starscream may have thought the fall lasted an eternity, before his body finally hit something- the trees that stood proudly on a large mountain range. Under Starscream's weight, along with the force of the drop, the Decepticon's body broke through the trees, which snapped like twigs, causing Starscream to drop some more, until he finally reached the ground with a thunderous thud. The sound of Starscream collided with the grassy ground of the mountain range echoed through the valley, while birds scattered from the trees, their cries echoing through the wilderness of Japan also.

Finally, all was silent and serene once again- including Starscream himself, who was now dead to the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

While all the chaos had ensued on Okinawa island, a large household in a mountainous valley on the Japanese mainland had just ended a heavily wrought day of their own. The household, that was so close that they could be considered family, were actually not family at all. Over the last few months, family comprised of three men had haphazardly encountered seven females, who while looking human in every way, shape and form were much like the Transformers in the fact that they were all alien women from outer space. Coming from different backgrounds and upbringings, the one thing all seven females had in common was a strong admiration for the teenage human boy, named Tenchi Masaki. Every day of Tenchi's life since he had met the women seemed to hand him another over the top adventure of mischief that his usually quiet and peaceful disposition really didn't wish to be involved with, and today was no exception.

For most of the day, Tenchi Masaki had been chasing a mechanoid that had been created by the house's resident genius- a pink haired mad scientist named Washu Habuki. Along with a pair of marooned galaxy police officers named Mihoshi and Kiyone, it took the four great effort for most of the day to stop and shut down Washu's failed experiment, much to her own personal sadness. Washu had tried once more to reprogram her robot, nicknamed Mecha-Washu -due to the fact that the robot looked exactly like her. But heartbreak filled Washu's soul once again when the robot, that was meant to take on her personality and superior intellect had taken on the intellect of the strange alien pet of the household, known as Ryo-Ohki- a rabbit with very cat like mannerisms and behaviour.

Now dejected and somewhat humiliated from presenting her failure publicly to the rest of the house's residents, Washu was now sadly dragging the shut down cyborg from the living room by its legs, while her estranged daughter, the strong alien woman, Ryoko continued to laugh heartily at the scientist's mistake. Once she was out of ear shot of the rest of the group in the living room, Washu continued to drag Mecha-Washu through the house by its ankles, grumbling angrily as she did so.

"Stupid, ignorant, arrogant fools." Washu grumbled with a frown. "If I wasn't surrounded by bumbling buffoons and stray cabbits, Mecha-Washu would be working perfectly."

Washu continued to drag Mecha-Washu along a corridor, stopping once she arrived before a green door that stood underneath a staircase. Sighing, Washu waved a single hand in front of the door, causing the door to shockingly open with nothing more than a simple flick from the scientist's wrist, who then grabbed Mecha-Washu and prepared to drag her through the door, when a number of footsteps caught her attention. Washu looked up to see Tenchi had walked up towards her, only to stop as he stood in a doorway, where he rested his right palm against the door frame while he looked towards the small scientist.

"Miss Washu?" Tenchi called softly.

"Yes, lord Tenchi?" Washu replied in as soft of a voice. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to offer my apologies for what's happened today with Mecha-Washu, and I'm sorry about what you just went through in there. I'm sure it wasn't nice."

"Why, that is very kind, lord Tenchi. Thank you." Washu replied to Tenchi with a small smile.

Tenchi looked to Washu, who took a step backwards towards the open green door, for she prepared to drag Mecha-Washu through the door, but Tenchi spoke once again.

"Would you like a hand with that?" Tenchi asked, causing Washu to stop and look to Tenchi.

"Hm? Oh no, don't worry." Washu cackled slightly. "I'm not only a genius, AND cute, but I'm also pretty strong too, don't you know!"

Tenchi smiled nervously towards Washu, who flexed her arms before Tenchi to humorously demonstrate her strength to him. With no more words shared between the two, Washu watched Tenchi walk back towards the kitchen before she finally dragged her robot through the door, into the darkness of her personal chambers. The door, of what used to be the broom closet, shut behind Washu, but once inside, one would have found it was clear that the room was no longer a broom closet. Instead, the broom closet was now the gateway to an interdimensional rift that Washu called home. The black hole underneath the stairs had everything Washu needed, that weeks could literally go by before she emerged from her hideaway. With a living area, bedroom, laboratory, study and everything else she needed behind the green door, Washu spent her days toiling over her favourite thing in the entire universe- science.

With a small sigh, Washu dropped Mecha-Washu's legs towards the floor. As the robot's legs dropped to the floor, Washu looked on to see that the robot began to float in mid air, but on a closer look, one could see that a holographic, floating gurney had materialized under the robot, before it began to hover away from Washu, who turned around in the dark room that was her study. With a mutter to herself, Washu dropped backwards, looking as if she would hit the floor, only for a small plush cushion to appear under her, where it caught her backside gently, holding her up so she now floated in the air as her legs dangled towards the ground. Washu held her hands out in front of her as a black holographic laptop phased out in front of her. Now back in the comfort of her familiar surroundings, Washu's slender fingers began to run over the holographic keys as she looked to the information on the screen before her.

"This whole mind-data transfer project still needs to be fine tuned." Washu said to herself. "Maybe I can put some measures into place that would hold the procedure if it isn't my mind data being transferred to Mecha-Washu's memory banks."

Thinking about her theory, Washu was about to review her blueprints for her mind transfer machine, but before she could, a continuous bleep began to ring from her laptop, with the screen of the laptop flashing with a red colour. The alarm that was blaring from Washu's laptop was actually one Washu had put in place if any more UFOs crashed from the skies, down into the mountainous region the Masaki household was nestled in. Now, with the laptop sounding the alarm, it was clear to the scientist that something had landed near the house. However, judging by the information her laptop was presenting her, Washu noticed that the UFO hadn't landed- instead, it crashed.

More information flashed up on the screen of Washu's holographic laptop, which the scientist took in instantly. She looked at the facts and figures that came up on the screen. The UFO had crashed only but a mile or so away from the Masaki home, and initial readings of the UFO, based on information picked up by her systems revealed to Washu that that UFO was quite large.

"Ahh. Interesting." Washu said to herself as she ran an index finger over her chin. "This could be worth a look. If, for nothing else, a bit of amusement."

Washu rose from her cushion, which, along with her laptop flickered away as they disappeared. Now on her feet once more, Washu strode across her study towards a wall beside a bookshelf, before another green door appeared just before the wall, where it quickly opened, allowing Washu entry. The scientist passed through the door, before another door before the small scientist opened, causing a bright light to infiltrate the blanket of darkness that covered the passageway between her inner sanctum and the outside world. Following the light, Washu walked out of the door, finding herself out in the wilderness of the mountainous range which was just over a mile from the Masaki household. She found she didn't have to go far to find the UFO that her computer had picked, for as soon as she left the confines of the door, Washu was taken aback slightly as she saw a large red and white robot, with blue livery here and there lying in a smoking heap before her.

"What's this?" Washu gasped excitedly as she ran to the fallen robot.

The robot, who was the fallen Decepticon, Starscream, lay face down on the ground of the forest that he and Washu were currently alone in. Washu had taken note of the many broken and fallen trees in the area, as well as the cracked ground that had turned into a crater underneath Starscream's body, which Washu knew meant that Starscream had violently crashed to the ground as she walked all around his motionless body. From feet to head, Washu walked all around Starscream, taking note of the dents, scrapes and burns that his metallic body had taken from situations she wasn't sure of. After doing a complete circle around Starscream's body, Washu was slightly puzzled as to whether the robot was piloted by something, or if it was an actual creature. Looking up, Washu realized she was unable to see what was on the robot's back, aside from the wings that protruded from its upper back. Due to that, the scientist phased away, only to reappear, now standing on Starscream's lower back where she then gasped. Looking down at Starscream's body, Washu saw a large, charred and still smoking circular hole through Starscream's middle. Sparks flickered from inside the hole that Washu looked through, seeing that something had torn through Starscream's body to the point Washu could see the grass that Starscream lay upon.

"Well, you're interesting, big fella." Washu said softly while she ran a hand across Starscream's wound. "I wonder if I can fix you up... What am I saying? Of course I can! I am the greatest scientific genius in the universe, of course!"

The first sense to come back to Starscream was his sense of hearing. In the cold, dark void, the Decepticon could heard the constant whirring of a mechanical drill, then he heard the constant hard taps of a hammer on a metallic surface. It was then the second of Starscream's senses returned, as he felt something cold slamming into his robotic stomach, which paused for a moment, only to start again, which began to rouse Starscream from unconsciousness.

Wh-where am I? Starscream thought to himself. What's going on?

Starscream reactivated his optic scanners- the robotic version of eyes -but he found his sight flicker violently, due to the fact that his camera like vision was no longer calibrated. This was thanks in no small part to the damage he had suffered earlier. Finally, after much static and a flickering background, Starscream's robotic eyes were finally able to broadcast the information his optic lenses could see, sending them to his computer brain. Unfortunately though, Starscream at this moment couldn't see in colour- instead, he saw everything in a dark red colour. His vision was still damaged, but he could make out a ceiling high above his head, which had large circular lights attached to it. The lights glared down onto Starscream, and although he couldn't see the white light because of his damaged sight, there was enough glare that he knew they were very bright.

Starscream attempted to move, but as his computer brain sent a signal to the rest of his body to sit up, his body didn't co-operate. This realization coaxed Starscream a little bit more out of his stupor, enough that a sense of panic filled his circuits, before he tried desperately again to move, where he was only able to cause his left blue index finger to twitch. Then, for the first time, he noticed that the loud tapping of the hammer stopped and Starscream also noticed that the thumping sensation on his body stopped also. There was a long pause of silence, during which Starscream attempted to move out of fear for what might happen next- a bid which was unsuccessful every time he tried. Starscream's sight began to fail again as his sight flickered violently with static, causing his view of the ceiling and the lights to become engulfed in red static, until that is a small head appeared in his line sight. This small image seemed to be enough to stimulate Starscream's vision back into working once again. Starscream looked at the head in his line of sight, realizing it was a human female; her head was lined with hair in such a wild style, Starscream couldn't help but think her hair resembled a crab! With a long ribbon in her hair, that trailed down the back of her head, the woman grinned at Starscream as she realized he had awoke.

"Ohh, awake now, I see. Well, good morning, sunshine!" Washu announced, waving to Starscream with a wrench in her hand. "I wondered if you were a sentient robot, given the kind of technology that comprises your anatomy and physiology, and it turns out I was right! I've still got quite a bit of work to do on you though, robot, so I'm just gonna put you back to sleep. Sweet dreams!"

Starscream attempted to speak, to protest against Washu's actions to make her stop. Unfortunately though, his usual high pitched didn't even leave his lips as they opened, but instead a weak series of bleeps left his mouth. Washu disappeared from Starscream's sight once again, so the Decepticon tried to move, but found all he could move once again was his blue finger; that is, until he heard a long, drawn out beep, and Starscream's vision turned to darkness once more.

* * *

><p>Time passed. How much time had passed was a mystery to Starscream; for all he knew it could have been as little as a few minutes, or even as long as days or weeks. But finally, Starscream's sight flickered on once again, and this time, the Decepticon was able to see clearly in full colour. Slowly, Starscream turned his head from left to right, allowing his robotic eyes to zoom in and out on everything around him as he took in his surroundings. The room looked like it was the same room he had been in earlier when he had awoke for a short period, and it was then that Starscream remembered the strange looking human woman who had spoke to him earlier, as well as the fact that he was unable to move more than a finger. Now however, Starscream realized he was able to move his head, so if he could move his head, then it stood to reason he could move the rest of his body. Flexing his fingers, which he felt move, Starscream began to gain confidence that his body had been repaired. He checked his internal diagnostics, which told him that his energon tank was now half full, unlike the fumes he had been running on earlier. Other checks also revealed that any damage he did suffer was now completely repaired, so with those positive thoughts dancing around his mind, Starscream rose from his seat...<p>

...Or at least, Starscream attempted to stand from his seat, but he found that as he attempted to stand, a force held him tightly against the large metallic chair he was in. He was able to lift his backside a few feet from the chair, but his legs and arms were firmly stuck to the chair. Now for the first time, Starscream decided to look down at his body, where he let out a scream of anger to see that his torso, wrists and ankles were bound to the large chair he was in! Immediately, Starscream began to thrash around in his chair, moving his torso back and fourth in an attempt to break free from the bondage he was in, but it was hopeless. Undaunted by that fact, though, Starscream tried again as he struggled and thrashed in his chair, causing the sound of scraping metal to echo throughout the large laboratory he was currently in, and he continued his struggle for several minutes until he noticed a human sized door materialize and open in front of him.

"Ah, awake now, I see." A voice came from inside the door, causing Starscream to halt his struggle.

Looking on, Starscream noticed a small figure now walk through the door; it was the woman who Starscream had seen with the wrench earlier! Now, with her hair tied up more, as her petite figure was clad in blue overalls, the woman, who Starscream noted as having bizarre pink hair, wiped some oil off her face as she held a wrench in her hand once again. The woman looked up at Starscream, happy to see that Starscream was again conscious. Starscream didn't share her sentiments.

"Let me go!" Starscream roared to Washu. "How do you do this to me? I am Starscream, Decepticon Air Space commander, and I demand you release me, lest you wish to die under my boot!"

"Well, that's not quite the response I expected." Washu said in response.

Casually, Washu threw the wrench that she held in her hand, away, where it simply flickered away, disappearing to a place Starscream didn't even know, before it was replaced by a large pink rag, that Washu began to wipe her oily hands with. This only served to rile up the already bad tempered Decepticon in her presence.

"I don't care what you expected!" Starscream snapped. "Release me at once, fleshling!"

"Hey, take it easy." Washu replied with an angry frown towards her guest. "I saved your life, you know. The least you could do is show some gratitude for it. Or just calm down; either one works for me."

"I was saved by an insignificant Earthling?" Starscream asked, somewhat painfully. "I would rather have died."

"I'm not an Earthling." Washu stated to Starscream. "And I'm far from insignificant! I am Washu Habuki, the greatest scientific mind in the entire universe! I'm also quite cute, wouldn't you say?"

Starscream glared down to the petite woman, who poked her own cheeks with her index fingers as she tilted her head in a cute appeal for Starscream, but once again, her charm failed to work on the large robot.

"All flesh creatures are insignificant to me." Starscream spat. "For your information, I happen to find organic beings disgusting, and that includes you!"

Washu looked up to Starscream with a look of pain in her eyes; she never liked being told she looked anything but cute, for her ego never took it well. Her pained expression soon turned to a look of fury, then she tossed her oil rag away, before her holographic laptop appeared before her, where with the press of a button, her ears were filled with the loud screams of pain as Starscream shrieked painfully. The Decepticon's body was filled with a pain he had never felt before, as if every circuit and gear in his robotic body was on fire. The pain continued, for what felt like an eternity to Starscream, until Washu pressed another button on her laptop, and the pain subsided, leaving Starscream to moan softly before he slumped in his chair as smoke rose from his now hot metal body.

"You really aren't very nice or grateful...Starscream." Washu announced, after taking a moment to recall Starscream's name. "Which is strange, because Starscream sounds like such a pretty name! Too bad you can't act like how your name sounds. Now then, Starscream, let me explain something to you. You almost died...At least, the robotic equivalent to a robot dying. I've worked long and hard to fix you up and bring you back from the recycling bin, but my work isn't finished yet. So, if you're-..."

Washu's words were interrupted as Starscream spoke again.

"Wrong woman, your work is done! And so will you too, when I get through with you!"

An idea had hit Starscream's mind as Washu talked. If he transformed, he would shrink enough that perhaps he could slip from the bonds that kept him seated, then he could make a bid for freedom. Immediately, Starscream attempted to transform, but as he did, he simply felt his body jerk as gears and pistons clanked and hissed in protest. Starscream grunted before he tried to transform again, but once more, the mechanics of his body didn't allow him to do it; instead an error message appeared before his line of sight, informing him that an error prevented him to transform.

"Why can't I transform?" Starscream cried fearfully.

"If weren't so rude as interrupt a lady -particularly one as lovely as I am- you would've heard that my work isn't finished yet. The reason you can't transform is because of this..."

Starscream looked on as a black hole opened beside Washu, who dipped her arms inside the black hole, then with a grunt, the woman pulled out a large purple piece of engineering that was almost as big as she was! Breathing heavy to keep the large metallic piece of equipment in her hands, Starscream couldn't believe what she held in her hands.

"Does this look familiar to you?" Washu asked through laboured breaths.

"It's my transformation cog!" Starscream exclaimed.

Before Washu spoke again, a large flatbed trolley appeared before her, where the scientist dropped the transformation cog in question onto the trolley, which it landed softly on. Now relieved of her burden, Washu looked up to Starscream again with a smile.

"That's right." Washu said. "It was damaged in the crash- along with most of your other internal mechanics. While you're near enough repaired, there are some things here and there to take care of. I've finished fixing your transformation cog, as you call it, so all I need to do now is reinstall it. Then, I can repair things like your anti gravity systems, and your weapons...provided I can trust you not to shoot me."

Starscream was about to make a comment that would quite possibly force Washu to change her mind on repairing his weapon systems, but a comment that she made caused Starscream to think, and instead, he asked a question.

"Wait," Starscream began. "I crashed?"

"Yep." Washu replied as she and the trolley approached Starscream. "According to my computer, you did. I found you lying in the woods not far from here. You had a hole blown right through you."

Starscream looked down at his torso, seeing that it looked as good as new. His memory of how he ended up in Washu's laboratory was non existent. In fact, the last thing he remembered as being threatened by Megatron, before he heard an explosion and felt a tearing pain ripping through him.

"Ugh. How long did it take to repair me?" Starscream asked.

"Mm, a couple of days." Washu replied. "Normally, it would have not taken so long, but I've never repaired a robot like you before. You're quite a different breed of robot, I must say. Where are you from, anyway? I take it you're not from around here. In fact, according to what the media has to say about you, you Decepticons are quite the evil batch of robots, aren't you."

"So, you know I'm a Decepticon." Starscream announced.

"Well, when you were lying on the repair bay, I had no idea," was the answer. "I have been imprisoned for thousands of years, and it hasn't been long since I was released. I'm catching up on things. But that purple symbol on your wings made me curious as to what exactly your brand belonged to. The media doesn't know where you are from, just that you seem to threaten the planet Earth at every turn and they've dubbed you Transformers- robots in disguise."

"If you know so much, I'm curious as to why you would repair a Decepticon." Starscream muttered.

During their conversation, Washu had stepped on to an elevator in her lab that lifted her up to Starscream's chest. A pair of robotic arms appeared from the darkness of the laboratory and opened up the cockpit shape in Starscream's chest, revealing his internal workings, where a large piece to the puzzle that was his internal structure was missing. The trolley holding Starscream's transformation cog had levitated up beside Washu, who gathered some tools together and prepared to go inside Starscream's chest to reattach his cog, but his statement caused her to pause on the elevator. She looked up to the robot with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Well, I'm a scientist; I love to create and fix things- evil robots included." Washu stated. "Besides... one good turn deserves another, right?"

"I'm beginning to wish you left me to die."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

More time passed, but this time Starscream was well aware of it. While Washu carried on her work on Starscream to make him mobile and fully functional again, there were times when she would become distracted with other projects and seemingly forget about the large robot sitting strapped up in her lab- much to Starscream's frustration. He spent his time between devising a way out of his own personal prison and wondering if any of the Transformers- Decepticon or Autobot actually missed him. But every time those thoughts danced around in his mind, Starscream would laugh it off, figuring that both sides were thankful of his disappearance. However, it would have probably come as something of a shock towards Starscream if he did know that actually not one but both sides had become concerned about his whereabouts, if for totally different reasons.

Back across the Pacific Ocean, in the state of Oregon, where the Autobots crippled space craft, the Ark, sat in the large volcano known as Mount St. Helens, Optimus Prime stood in the main control room of the spaceship. With his metallic chin cupped in his own giant blue hand, he stood above Prowl, his chief military analyst, as he sat before the Autobots' super computer, Teletran-1. Currently, Optimus Prime and Prowl were looking at the computer's giant screen which showed a large computerized map of the country of Japan. Although Optimus Prime's face was half covered by a mask, the Autobots could tell that he had a look of concern.

"Prowl, are you certain of this?" The Autobot leader asked his strategist.

"As sure as I can be, Optimus." Prowl responded with a nod. "According to the information Wheeljack gave me about his mine, and the direction you told me the Decepticons retreated to, Starscream should be somewhere in this mountainous region here."

Optimus Prime's robotic eyes followed Prowl's white finger when he pointed to the screen.

"But according to Jetfire, he isn't there." Optimus Prime said in a vexed voice. "It's a pity we left without picking him up. One less Decepticon to deal with would've been all the better. Especially one as high ranked and dangerous as Starscream."

"You shouldn't sweat it, Optimus." Came the voice of Jazz, who had been listening in on the conversation, leaning up against a wall close by. "Starscream's gotta be nothin' but a pile of junk now. You've seen the Decepticons the last few days- they're all disorganized in their last few tussles with us because they don't have Starscream around! You should be happy."

"Until I know of his whereabouts for certain, this nagging feeling in the back of my CPU won't leave me." Optimus Prime replied.

"And besides, Starscream being scrapped is only one of a few theories." Prowl said next. "There are other possibilities. He could be being repaired by the Constructicons. Or, my calculations could be wrong, and for all we know he could be laying at the bottom of the Japanese ocean floor. Then, there's always the possibility that somebody may have found him."

"That is perhaps my greatest fear." Optimus Prime announced. "Our war on the planet Earth has already created a big enough death toll on the humans' population. I cannot, in good conscience, allow more to die if some rogue human has taken control of a dangerous war machine."

"With all due respect Prime; hush." Jazz said with a smile. "From what Wheeljack told me, that mine would've blown Starscream into a million bits. I know the Japanese are aces when it comes to technology and stuff, but I don't think even they could figure out how to rewire a Decepticon without following a manual on it from Cybertron."

Optimus Prime turned towards Jazz to speak again; but before he could, Teletran-1's radio began to crackle, before the familiar voice of their spy, Bumblebee came through it. Optimus Prime turned back towards Teletran-1 and pressed the button on the console that allowed him radio contact with the spy.

"This is Autobot base, Bumblebee. Are you at the Decepticon headquarters?"

"Yeah," Bumblebee replied in a whisper. "I'm in their control room right now. You need to listen in to this conversation. I'll patch you in to it."

The screen of Teletran-1, which had still been displaying the map of Japan quickly flickered off before the image changed. The image was then replaced with what Bumblebee could see through his own eyes, causing Optimus Prime and Prowl to look closer, while Jazz approached the large computer to stand beside his comrades. The trio looked on to see Bumblebee was hidden behind a large computer in the Decepticon base's own control room. At the head of the room, standing before a large computer of his own, was Megatron. With his back to Bumblebee, Megatron had his hands on his hips while Soundwave sat in a chair next to him, with both of them looking up at the computer's screen.

"Satellite search has returned with zero visual contact." Soundwave was heard reporting to his leader. "Radio contact has also failed."

"Naaargh!" Megatron snarled. "Then try again, Soundwave."

"Search via these methods has been continuous." Soundwave replied. "Advise we take a new course of action."

The Autobots looked on, seeing Megatron visibly tense in his upper body. He took his black hands off his hips which he squeezed into tight fists that shook for a few moments, before he raised his right arm and swiped the air angrily. With a snarl, Megatron turned away from Soundwave and the computer screen as he began to pace back and fourth in the room.

"We must find Starscream." Megatron announced. "As much as it pains me to admit, I need his skills. Each warrior I have tried to put in his place has been an utter sham. Skywarp is too mindless to be put in a commanding officer's position, and Thundercracker simply won't accept the responsibility! Ramjet would be an ideal candidate, but he lacks that certain instinct that Starscream seems to have. I want Starscream found and brought back here at once!"

"Why do we even want Starscream back? I thought you loathed everything about him." Another Decepticon asked.

Megatron looked down towards the purple human sized Decepticon with a glare of irritation in his eyes.

"Because, Rumble, a true leader puts his personal feelings aside for the good of his cause." Megatron said as calmly as he could. "And besides...when Starscream isn't under supervision and on a leash, he can become...dangerous. He's out there somewhere, and if he's functional, then he will be plotting against me...I know the way his mind operates."

Megatron turned his attention away from Rumble, then paced back over to Soundwave, who continued to sit at the Decepticon computer. It was at this point that Optimus Prime made radio contact with Bumblebee once again.

"Alright Bumblebee, I've seen enough. When you can, get out of there and return to base."

After a quick goodbye from Bumblebee, the image of the Decepticons' headquarters flickered away, once again returning to the map of Japan as Optimus Prime looked to Prowl and Jazz.

"So, the Decepticreeps never bothered to pick Starscream up." Jazz grinned. "Heh, priceless. Can't say I'm surprised, though."

"Yes, but it also means the Decepticons are as in the dark about Starscream's whereabouts as we are." Optimus Prime replied.

"Then there's always a chance that we can find him." Prowl said after he stood from his seat. "It's obvious now that Megatron is going to send out a search party for Starscream, so I advise we should do the same thing. If he is disabled, then we will be able to contain the situation. If he still functions, and is plotting against Megatron as Megatron himself has said, at least we can apprehend a rogue Decepticon that is, in his own right, a threat to Earth."

Optimus Prime heeded Prowl's words, before he then looked to Jazz.

"Jazz, organize a search party of our own. Then we need to get Jetfire refueled and ready for another trip. We're heading back to Japan."

* * *

><p>"Ok, Screamy, try again."<p>

"Must you call me that?" Starscream asked. "My name is Starscream."

"Aww, but you are my little Screamy, aren't you?" Washu snickered. "Now come on. Try again. We need to get you flying again, don't we?"

"You'll become a stain on my foot if you-..." Starscream sighed, finishing his muttered rant early as he prepared to comply with Washu's request.

It had now been a week since Starscream had fully regained consciousness in Washu's laboratory, and finally, the Decepticon air commander was able to stretch his legs. Washu had fitted his transformation cog, but had disabled it as she found earlier in the week that Starscream was unable to fly, and what good was an F-15 Eagle that couldn't fly? This sent Starscream into a bitter rage, but Washu's promise to get him flying again calmed Starscream enough that he willingly sat back in the seat he had been bonded to for many days, so that Washu could open him back up to try and solve the problem, after she disabled his transformation cog. Deducing Starscream's systems just needed calibrating so that his systems would activate his anti-gravity mechanism and allow him to fly, Washu began the task. Unfortunately, this certain type of calibration had become a long, arduous process.

Now connected to a large computer that Washu sat in front of, Starscream looked over to Washu, who gave him the thumbs up to attempt to fly again. Starscream accessed the command in his computer brain that would initiate the procedure. Washu looked on to see that Starscream was audibly straining to try and make his boosters start while his internal computers processed what Starscream wanted to do. Washu looked at her computer, seeing what Starscream was attempting to do, but the longer she waited for Starscream to lift off the ground, the more her heart sank.

"Ehh, another failed attempt. I should proba-..."

"Haha, don't count your chickens, woman!" Starscream stated triumphantly. "Look at me now!"

Washu opened her eyes from the pit of despair she was succumbing to, before she jumped out of her seat in amazement to see that flames were flowing from the bottom of Starscream's feet like a pair of dragons. On the bottom of Starscream's feet were where his boosters were located, and they were now burning brightly with enough force that Starscream was hovering a few feet off the ground, for he had little room to do much else. However, both Starscream and Washu were smiling- one evilly, and the other triumphant- for they had managed to make Starscream fly again.

But, they were soon to find that there triumph was to be short lived. As Washu began to cackle happily that she had made Starscream fly again, she was sent into a fit of fright when she heard a high pitched female voice cry out behind her.

"Wow! Watcha doing, Washu?"

Washu jumped from the spot she was standing on, landing a couple of feet closer to her computer, which her stomach collided against. She was doubled over against the computer's console for a moment, before she gathered enough wind back into her stunned self to turn around to see a familiar tanned face, lined with blonde hair, and a clueless expression standing before her. The woman was named Mihoshi- another one of the many alien women who had made Tenchi's home their own over the course of the last few months. She, along with another, Kiyone were also both galaxy police officers, who had been marooned on Earth. With little much to do, Mihoshi had made a habit out of stumbling into Washu's secret laboratory in her many networks of black holes that lay behind the door underneath the Masaki staircase- something that angered and mystified Washu.

"Mihoshi!" Washu cried in surprise. "How the hell did you get in here this time?"

"Erm..." Mihoshi began as her face contorted with thought. "I dunno...I just opened a door, got lost, then ended up here."

Washu looked blankly at Mihoshi, who seemed to try so hard to recall how she found herself in Washu's presence. After a few moments more thought, Mihoshi's blue eyes looked from Washu, to Starscream, who continued to float in the air. He hadn't bothered to notice that Mihoshi was in the room, let alone conversing with the woman who was repairing him.

"Oooo!" Mihoshi exclaimed excitedly. "What's that? It looks neat!"

"That?" Starscream echoed, finally noticing Mihoshi's presence indignantly. "It? It has a name you know. I am Starscream, and you would be well advised to remember it when addressing me in the future, flesh creature."

"Oh, wow!" Mihoshi cried. "It talks! That's so awesome, Washu! It looks just like one of the mecha from one of my favourite sentai shows!"

"That's nice!" Washu replied to Mihoshi, cutting her off in mid sentence. "Oh my, look at the time. You know, it's almost time for Starscream's bedtime, so why don't you run along now..."

As Washu spoke, she had grabbed Mihoshi rather roughly by her arms. Despite being petite, Washu was actually fairly strong for a person of her small stature, and so she was able to force Mihoshi to turn around, before she placed her hands on Mihoshi's lower back, the area of Mihoshi's body where her head came to. Washu then began to push Mihoshi away from her computer, but a flashing button on the keyboard had caught Mihoshi's attention. Entranced by the yellow and red flashing button, Mihoshi stepped to the side, causing Washu to trip face first to the floor as Mihoshi leaned it to the keyboard for a closer inspection.

"Hey Washu," Mihoshi began as her finger hovered over the flashing button. "What does this do?"

Washu didn't raise her head from the floor of her laboratory, for she heard the click of a button. Keeping her head low and fearing the worst, Washu's fears were realized when she heard both Mihoshi and Starscream cry out in surprise. She heard a violent impact that caused the room to shake once, then she heard a very crash, followed by a cry of pain from Starscream as the room shook again, and then, there was silence. Then, very slowly, Washu raised her head from the floor, only to leap to her feet to see Starscream doubled over on the floor, his limbs now lying over crushed machinery and smashed lab furniture. Screaming, Washu ran over to Starscream who sighed dizzily.

"Oh my! Screamy, are you ok?" Washu squealed as she skidded to a halt before Starscream's face.

"My...name is...Starscream."

Starscream's face hit the floor as he was too dizzy to keep himself upright; as his head collided with the floor, the room shook once again. Mihoshi now walked over to Starscream and Washu, where she stood, looking over Washu's shoulder at the damage that had just been inflicted.

"Woah, Washu, what happened?" Mihoshi asked innocently. "Is it going to be ok?"

"It is a he." Washu muttered. "Hasn't Kiyone taught you not press buttons you aren't sure of yet? Ugh."

Before Mihoshi could say anything more, or do anymore damage, Washu grabbed Mihoshi rather roughly by the wrist before she marched away from Starscream, dragging a protesting Mihoshi with her. They continued to walk towards the end of the laboratory until a large red door phased into view in front of them, where the door then opened itself as Washu and Mihoshi stopped in front of it.

"If you don't know how you got here, I'll show you how to get out!" Washu snapped to Mihoshi. "Go on, now."

Mihoshi looked to Washu sadly, whose eyes met hers with a look of fury. Saddened by Washu's rather abrasive nature towards her visit, Mihoshi let out a small whine before she walked through the door, which Washu slammed violently behind her.

"This is getting extremely monotonous." Starscream spoke, breaking the silence. "Woman, you had better finish your repairs on me soon, or I won't be the only thing to violently hit the floor in this room. Do you understand?"

"Now, now," Washu began as her frown of anger turned to a friendly smile as she looked to the fallen Decepticon. "You need to be nice to me, or else I won't carry on fixing you, Screamy."

"What do I even need you for anymore?" Starscream snapped as he rose to a knee. "I can now fly."

"But your weapons and transformation cog-..."

"Can be repaired when I get back to my headquarters!" Starscream sharply announced, cutting Washu off. "I don't need you anymore, woman..." Starscream's look of anger began to turn into an evil smile. "And bad things happen to flesh creatures who are no longer useful."

"Well now, if you're going to be that way, I guess I won't uninstall that nuclear bomb I put in your head." Washu said in a nonchalant tone as she looked away from Starscream.

Starscream's tone changed upon hearing the scientist's words. His evil smile also turned to a look of shock and panic.

"...Bomb?" Starscream began. "You put a bomb in my head?"

"Mmm-hm." Washu began. "Well, I needed a way to recycle you if I failed to rebuild you."

Washu let out a long sigh as she swung her arms from her side to her back, where she locked her hands together behind her back and continued to look away.

"You're bluffing!" Starscream declared as Washu continued to look away. "There is no bomb in my head. Admit it!"

"I'm afraid there is." Washu replied sadly, her lips now curving downwards. "Remember that pain I made you feel earlier in the week? That's from the same device, but it has two settings. Pain inducing, or its secondary bomb mode. If only you'd co-operate with me for a little longer, you wouldn't have to become a pile of raw material. But alas, if you're going rogue, then the project's a failure."

"No!" Starscream cried. "Please, don't do it! I'll kill you first!"

Washu could hear the desperation and panic in Starscream's voice, and because of this, her mock expression of sadness turned into a small, evil grin of her own as her right eyebrow arched upwards. She finally turned her head, facing Starscream, who was on his knees, looking to the small pink haired scientists with pleading eyes. Washu couldn't help but allow her grin to grow wider.

"You know, Screamy, if only you were a bit nicer to lil' Washu, then she'd be more than happy to take the bomb out of your cranium casing! You just need to co-operate with lil' Washu for a little longer, then you'll be able to go home to allll your Decepticon buddies. And wouldn't that be nice, hmm?"

"Yes." Starscream nodded eagerly. "Yes, it would."

"So..." Washu began. "Are we going to be friends again?"

"Will you promise to remove this bomb from my head if I agree to carry on with this ridiculous comedy of errors?" Starscream asked.

"Mmmm-hmmm," came the answer.

"Very well." Starscream sighed.

"Good boy." Washu said with a smile. "Now, up you get. I think it's time we let you spread your wings."

Washu's claim sounded inviting- so inviting that Starscream quickly stood to his feet, somewhat surprised and disgusted with himself that he would be taking orders from a human. Nonetheless, it sounded like Starscream was finally going to get a chance to fly again, something that the Decepticon had sorely missed over the last few days of his subsequent capture. So, when Washu grabbed a few tools and began to walk, Starscream eagerly followed her, much like a pet that Washu had dangled a treat in front of. Together, the pair walked towards a large door that appeared in front of them, tall enough for Starscream to comfortably walk through. As soon as Starscream walked through the threshold of the large door, he found himself engulfed by a bright light, which his optical sensors immediately began to readjust to as he held his forearm over his eyes for a few moments, until his systems were able to cope with the change in brightness. Taking his arm away, Starscream found that he and Washu were standing out in the open once again; standing between a large lake and a large house- the only one that Starscream could see in a valley filled with a large expanse of woods and mountains. After taking in his surroundings, Starscream looked down to Washu, who slipped her lab coat back on over her petite frame.

"Now what?" Starscream asked bluntly.

Washu looked up to Starscream and chuckled as she grinned to him. Starscream glared down to the woman as he felt a new found sense of confidence as he stood in the open and no longer in the enclosure of Washu's environment. Still, despite the hatred that began to bubble in his circuits for the woman who had kept him locked away, Starscream complied, for he lowered down onto his backside, then lay along the grass on his back as Washu teleported onto his chest plate. Taking a wench and power screwdriver after Washu opened the glass canopy that was Starscream's cockpit in his aircraft mode, Washu peered down into Starscream's chest to see the large transformation cog. Immediately, Washu leaned down into the large compartment of Starscream's chest as she began her work, surrounded by various internal components that made up the Decepticon, with Starscream's frustration building up under his metallic skin with every second that past.

"When I finish wiring this thing back up to you, Screamy," Washu began as she broke the silence, "we'll see if you're okay up in the air."

"Then what?" Starscream asked in a short tone, to which Washu cackled in her usual manner.

"Well, after that, I was hoping you'd do me a little favour."

"Oh?" Starscream sneered as he became more bitter with every second. "What sort of favour?"

"I need to take a trip." Washu replied. "I've been checking over your diagnostics, and with the right fuel and equipment, you'd be pretty handy at space travel. I need to go to the next galaxy and grab some...things that I've long since been separated from. I'd do it myself, but if I was to take my main method of space travel, everybody in the house over there would notice I'm gone, and that would raise...awkward questions. So, you're going to have the pleasure of being my own personal little rocket ship!"

Washu's explanation burned through Starscream's mind like a hot branding iron, which only caused his anger to swell to a new height. He was a Decepticon; a proud warrior who lived for the conquest of the universe. It was his birthright, as far as he was concerned, to hold the very cosmos in the palm of his hand- to spare it, or crush it as he saw fit. He had almost seemingly forgotten that fact at some stage during his time with Washu, but as she revealed her plan to him, his feeling of insult reminded him of just who he was, and what he was fighting for. He stayed silent while Washu continued his work, thinking of a way to end the charade he found himself in, and then, as some figures began to move from around the house that Washu had mentioned, an idea was sparked in his mind.

Starscream looked at the humans as they left the house through a large glass screen door. There were two of them; one a teenage male, who had dark hair and was wearing a brown outfit. The other was a young girl, who had green hair, pink eyes and an innocent smile. Together, the pair walked cautiously up towards Starscream, who continued to lie on his back. He glared at the pair for a moment, who were still cautiously approaching him, before he looked up, arching his neck up to speak to the woman currently in his chest cavity.

"I think you have visitors." Starscream announced to Washu.

Washu popped up from out of Starscream's chest cavity with a look of surprise on her face. Peering down from on Starscream, Washu saw the two humans stop near Starscream; their expressions softening a bit as they saw Washu was responsible for the large robot that was currently on their lawn. Although, for the male, seeing Washu as the one responsible for such a large thing was of hardly any comfort.

"Uh...hey, Washu." The teenage boy called up nervously to her. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh what, this?" Washu asked with surprise.

Washu turned her head towards Starscream, who blankly looked back towards her, before he lay his head back down on the grass. Washu then looked back to the pair with a smile on her face before she rose her index finger in the air.

"This is just a little something I've been working on over the past few days, Tenchi." Washu answered. "It's almost ready, actually, if you wanna stick around and watch the fun."

"It looks alive." The young girl said nervously as she watched Starscream's head move.

"That's because I am alive, human." Starscream announced.

The fact Starscream spoke caused Tenchi to leap up into the air in surprise and fright. With a loud scream, Tenchi jumped back behind the young girl, who laughed at Tenchi's reaction to the large robot who as currently lying on its back before them.

"Well, no need to be so jumpy." Washu said to Tenchi. "Sasami seems to have more nerve than you do right now, my boy. Don't be scared. Starscream's my...friend."

"That somehow doesn't encourage me, little Washu..." Tenchi sighed as he looked to Starscream, who simply glared back at the pair.

"So...erm...Hi?" Tenchi stammered to Starscream, who groaned softly at the boy's timidness. "What's your name?"

"I am Starscream." Starscream replied in a harsh tone.

"Oh." Tenchi said with a silly grin as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, my name's Tenchi Masaki, and this is Sasami."

"I figured." Starscream muttered. "Although I have little interest in your names, I have to ask if you're all as stupid as the blonde humanoid I saw earlier."

"You've met Mihoshi?" Sasami asked with surprise.

"Yep, he sure did." Washu finally piped up.

All eyes turned to Washu, who had finally climbed out of Starscream's chest cavity, where she then closed Starscream's chest shut. Gathering her tools together, Washu noticed a small black hole appear beside her, which she casually threw her tools and laboratory coat into, before she disappeared from Starscream's chest, only to reappear on the ground beside Tenchi and Sasami.

"You know, we found Mihoshi pretty upset in the sitting room, little Washu." Tenchi informed the scientist after she appeared beside him. "You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?"

"Oh. Yes." Washu replied with a nervous smile. "She invaded my lab again, you see. She pressed a button,that I asked her NOT to touch, and she made an awful mess of my laboratory. She can be a frustrating woman at times...She's not still here, is she?"

"No." Tenchi replied. "Kiyone picked her up to go to one of their many jobs while they're stationed here."

Washu was about to say something in response to Tenchi's statement, but before she could, the raging sound of Starscream's voice broke the air.

"Alright, that's enough!"

Shocked by Starscream's outburst, Washu, Tenchi and Sasami collectively looked towards Starscream, seeing that he was in the motion of leaping to his feet. As he landed on his feet, the ground shook violently enough that it caused Sasami to lose her balance and all to the ground. Starscream looked towards the three humans, seeing that Washu and Tenchi looked to Sasami with concern as Starscream reached for a compartment at the side of his right leg. With a hiss, the compartment opened, and Starscream grabbed a small laser pistol from it, which he took and aimed towards the trio, who let out a cry of surprise to see Starscream was armed.

"I've had enough of playing the broken little robot!" Starscream snapped. "I shall take my leave, but not before you suffer for the indignation you've put me through!"

Washu looked up at Starscream in shock, for she hadn't realized that he might have been concealing a weapon somewhere on his person- she hadn't needed to look over his legs, for they were one of the few things not damaged in his crash landing. Mentally, she kicked herself for not being as thoroughly as she should have been, but she didn't allow the others to see it. Instead, she kept her cool, with her surprised expression now turning to a grin.

"You wouldn't dare fire on me." Washu replied. "If you keep this up, I'll detonate that bomb in your head, Starscream. You know I will."

"Then perhaps you need to be persuaded." Starscream retorted.

Then, with lightning fast reflexes, Starscream looked towards Tenchi and Sasami, where he then lashed out towards them with his large left hand. The pair let out a scream of shock, but both were too slow to move as Starscream wrapped his fingers around the pair of them; grabbing them in his hand, and with the two tightly in his grip, Starscream stood tall in front of Washu again, who now became unnerved seeing Starscream with two of her friends in his possession.

"I'm sure even the most brilliant scientific mind in the universe would know that if I were to be blown up, these two would not live to talk about it." Starscream announced with a wicked grin. "I doubt you have the nerve to allow them to meet their end on account of me."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Washu momentarily hesitated, before she simply gritted her teeth together and grumbled as she realized Starscream was right. The bomb that was in the back of Starscream's head was powerful enough to not only blow him up into small pieces of scrap, but it also had enough power to obliterate the Masaki household near them, which meant both of Washu's friends would assuredly meet their doom. For once, Washu was stuck for a solution to rescue Starscream's captives; something the Decepticon noticed as he let out a loud laugh of triumph.

"Hahaha! Oh dear. What's wrong, little Washu?" Starscream asked with contempt. "Is the universe's most brilliant genius actually unable to think of a solution? I thought so. A mere meat bag like yourself would never hope to best me in a game of wits. However, I am not a completely heartless Decepticon. I will release them, provided you return my armaments to me, as well as the contents of that laboratory of yours...I know you must keep a veritable goldmine of weapons in there."

"I would never do that." A serious sounding Washu announced to Starscream.

"Then your friends will pay the price for your selfishness!" Starscream cried.

Washu looked on at the towering robot in horror while he began to hold his arm out in front of him; his fingers beginning to tighten their grip on his captives, which caused both Tenchi and Sasami to cry out in panic. Washu began to tremble on the spot, feeling too conflicted to act accordingly, or Starscream seemingly had her over a barrel. But then, a possible lifeline was granted to the victims of Starscream's gambit as a woman flickered into view near them.

Curiously, the woman floated in the air, almost at the same height as Starscream's head. She was sitting in a cross legged position, as if sitting on a cushion while in mid air. With her eyes closed, the woman stretched out her arms as far as she could, as if she was just waking up from a deep sleep, before her golden eyes wearily opened before she spoke.

"Would you keep the noise down?" She yawned as some of her spikey light green draped in her right eye. "I'm trying to sleep off a-..."

With her eyes fully open, the floating woman now finally looked to see the scene unfolding before her, much to her shock, to see a giant robot holding two of her friends -one of whom was an interest of her heart -perilously. For a split second, the woman thought she was dreaming, but then, the cry of desperation that came from Tenchi's voice delivered the sobering realization that this was no dream.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi called to the woman upon seeing her. "Help us!"

"She will do nothing of the sort!" Starscream roared.

Washu continued to look on to see Starscream turn to his right in one quick stride, so that he could face the woman who continued to float in mid air. Raising his laser gun, Starscream pointed the small white gun towards Ryoko, squeezing the trigger as he did so that a bolt of purple energy shot from it, flying towards Ryoko with an intent to end her life. Seeing the bolt coming, Ryoko's eyes widened, then she flickered from view as the beam of purple energy simply shot through the sky before it collided with a tree that exploded into splinters. Cursing for missing his target, Starscream the noticed that Ryoko had reappeared mere feet from his black face as she had a look of rage on hers. To Starscream's surprise, Ryoko raised her right fist then smashed it as hard as she could into Starscream's face. Letting out a cry, Starscream felt as if he had been punched by Optimus Prime with so much might that Starscream began to fall back towards the ground as he released his grip on Tenchi and Sasami, who dropped towards the ground.

The two humans screamed when they began to drop over twenty feet; but as Tenchi dropped, he suddenly felt a force under his armpits before he began to drop slowly to the ground. However, Sasami continued to drop at full force, leaving Washu to run across the ground, where she caught Sasami in her arms, saving her from a hard fall, and as Tenchi softly landed on the ground, Ryoko flickered into sight as she was the one who invisibly carried Tenchi safely onto the grass.

"Are you alright, Tenchi, darling?" Ryoko asked with concern as she brushed a sweaty Tenchi's cheek.

"We've gotta stop that thing!" Tenchi screamed in a panic, to which a shocked Ryoko stumbled back.

"Ow! Take it easy!" Ryoko cried. "I think I've gone deaf..."

"That won't be the worst of it when I finish with you!"

The foursome looked up as a shadow loomed over them, to see Starscream lunge for the group with his right palm outstretched towards them. Immediately, Ryoko teleported away, while Washu and Sasami ran. Tenchi, however, was not as lucky, as he reacted to slowly and he was snatched up in Starscream's grip once again, before he reached for his laser pistol, which he quickly grabbed.

"Oh no, Tenchi!" Sasami cried with fear.

"Let him go!" A reappearing Ryoko cried.

Sneering, Starscream looked up towards Ryoko, who had reappeared back in the air not but a second earlier, prompting Starscream to instinctively raise his laser pistol up into the air, where another shot was fired from the pistol. This time, Ryoko was too slow to react to Starscream's assault, for the purple beam of laser energy caught Ryoko in the shoulder, who quickly dropped out of the air where she slammed to the ground with a harsh thud. She gripped her shoulder tightly as she rolled onto her left side, which brought a laugh out of Starscream.

"Make no mistake, this is but a small sum of what I could do to all of you!" Starscream informed the group. He then looked towards Washu.

"I bore of this trivial game. You have until sunset to deliver my weapons, as well as the most powerful creation from your bountiful laboratory to me, or this one shall become a stain on the Umeda-Sky Building!"

With that, Starscream leaped into the air, where the boosters on the bottoms of his feet roared into life, propelling him high into the sky. Laughing maniacally, Starscream then threw Tenchi high up into the sky, which drew out a loud scream of fright from not only the young man, but the three females on the ground. But as Tenchi began to drop, Starscream transformed into his alternate form of the F-15 jet. With his cockpit open, Starscream hovered until Tenchi dropped into the cockpit, where the glass canopy quickly closed, looking as if he had swallowed Tenchi whole, before then, with a roar of thrusters, Starscream flew away from the Masaki home in a red and silver blur, leaving the group on the ground as they felt drowned by the feeling of helplessness.

As the roaring sound of Starscream's thrusters faded, and the final echoes of his laugh faded away, Washu finally looked to Ryoko, who lay on her knees in the grass. She, as well as Sasami rushed over to Ryoko, where they gathered around her to check her wounded shoulder, but they were quickly pushed away by Ryoko as she growled angrily.

"Damn it, no!" Ryoko cried desperately. "It's taken Tenchi! What the hell was that thing?"

"It is named Starscream." Washu announced sullenly. "He's a Decepticon- an alien robot, who I found near death a few days ago. I found him, took him to my lab and repaired him...But I didn't expect this to happen."

"You what?" Ryoko roared.

Ryoko, now fueled by anger, no longer cared about the searing pain in her shoulder and she stood, where she looked down towards the diminutive Washu with anger painted across her face before she then craned her head towards Washu's face.

"You helped an evil machine, just so he could take Tenchi and shoot me?" Ryoko cried. "Have you finally lost it!"

"Are you quite finished?" Washu asked angrily. "I didn't plan for Starscream to take Tenchi. Obviously, he didn't need my help anymore, so he pulled out of our agreement. I suppose that's typical of a Decepticon. But now, we need to get Tenchi back."

"And that's typical of you!" Ryoko growled. "Well, we can't wait around, we need to get Tenchi back!"

"We will, Ryoko." Washu replied in a calm manner. "But first, I need to get something back from my laboratory first."

"You're not going to give that mean robot what he wants are you, miss Washu?" A concerned Sasami asked.

"Let's just say he's going to get what's coming to him." Washu answered.

"I'm not waiting around for you to rattle around in that lab of yours." Ryoko snorted. "For we all know that robot could squash Tenchi by the time we arrive!"

"I wish Ayeka was here..." Sasami softly spoke. "She'd know what to do."

"Psh, we don't need her." Ryoko announced. "All I need is myself and Ryo-Ohki."

At that moment, a small brown rabbit looking creature came scurrying out of the screen door of the Masaki household, meowing in a panic while it ran. As it neared the three females, the creature, known to the family as a Cabbit used its large hind legs to leap up into the air, where it landed on Sasami's head.

"She always comes when I call her with my mind." Ryoko announced as she tapped her own forehead.

"Not that you have much of one..." Washu muttered, causing Ryoko to growl.

"Hey! What did you say?" Ryoko cried.

"Nothing." Washu calmly replied as she began to walk away from Ryoko. "You can go if you want; I'll catch up with you."

With that, another door appeared out of thin air. Red in colour, the door opened with a long, loud creak, showing nothing but darkness inside. Washu stepped through the door into the darkness, where she flickered away, disappearing before the door slammed closed then phased away into thin air, leaving Ryoko, Sasami and the cabbit, Ryo-Ohki alone. Ryoko prepared to leave, but Sasami spoke up, pausing her in her efforts.

"Is there anything I can do?" Sasami asked.

"Just stay here." Ryoko muttered, before she gave a small grin. "Somebody needs to get supper ready in time for when Tenchi and I come home."

"Ok!" Sasami said with a smile. "I'll do just that."

Ryoko chuckled softly at Sasami's chipper response. Then, taking her attention to the Cabbit sitting on top of Sasami's head, Ryoko reached out and grabbed Ryo-Ohki by the scruff of the neck, before she snatched the little brown creature off the girl's head, spun round where she let go of Ryo-Ohki, throwing her high into the air. The Cabbit meowed loudly- so loud that the meow echoed through the sky before Ryo-Ohki began to change her form; curling up into a ball before her form then completely changed as she seemed to grow spikes out of her fur, shifting many times over until she appeared as a large spike covered, gray UFO that hovered in the sky. Seeing her transport now ready up in the sky, Ryoko leaped off the ground as she flew through the air, up into the UFO, which meowed in response to Ryoko coming aboard. Sasami continued to watch on as her surroundings became engulfed in a strong wind, causing the trees and grass to lean to one side from the powerful guts, which also caused Sasami to shield herself with her arms while her dress blew harshly. The wind, which as actually coming from Ryo-Ohki soon disappeared as she blasted off higher into the sky, leaving Sasami alone in the silence of the Masaki home as peace was seemingly restored to the area once again.

* * *

><p>Many miles away, in the southern city of Osaka, Japan was a large business building that towered over the district of Osaka, known as Umeda. It was a distinctive sight, as it didn't look like most buildings that littered the skyline of Osaka, for the large, unusual looking building actually looked like two separate towers that were combined by a large roof that crossed over and joined on both sides. Some flights below that roof, a bridge also connected the two halves of the building together, and because of the unusual shape of the building, it attracted many visitors and tourists who would come to marvel at the buildings most unusual shape.<p>

The tower housed many businesses, including an office for a large car manufacturing company, where currently, many of its office workers were in a large board room, taking part in a business meeting. At the head of the room stood a young man, dressed sharply in a black suit, who was currently leading the meeting as he stood beside a large board that was filled with pictures of sales charts, profit graphs and other statistics. The attendees of the meeting were mostly aging men who were the senior people of the company, and they listened intently to what the young executive had to say about the company. But, as he prepared to start the final few financial reports on the company's progress, the group of gentlemen were startled and distracted by a roaring boom that shattered the air of the area. A tremor then shook the room, causing the men to tense in fear as they murmured in shock. One old executive, who sat facing the window, pointed to the window in horror as he let out an exclamation, causing the other businessmen to look out through the window to see Starscream, still in his F-15 jet form, quickly approaching the building. The jet was seemingly on a collision course, which caused the men to all bolt for the door to make a retreat, but Starscream then climbed high up into the sky, following the building's walls up to the top of the building, where an observation deck was located. In a flash, Starscream transformed to his robot mode, which caused Tenchi to fly from his cockpit. Horrified, Tenchi let out a scream as he began to drop, but he was quickly caught by Starscream's hand, who dropped onto the ground of the building's observation deck, which caused another tremor to rumble through the building, which served to panic the building's occupants.

Saying nothing, Starscream calmly strode across the observation deck of the building, which was incidentally closed to members of the public for some construction work. The Decepticon looked around at the construction equipment before he let out a smile upon seeing a large steel piece of piping lying on the ground beside a wheelbarrow. Cruelly, Starscream glared down at Tenchi in his hand, who simply let out a cry of fright when Starscream threw Tenchi into the wheelbarrow so harshly that Tenchi let out a cry of pain, arching his lower back from the pain that quickly ran up through his spine. With that, Starscream crouched on the floor, picked up the piece of piping before he wrapped it around Tenchi as well as the wheelbarrow, tying Tenchi securely in the wheelbarrow.

"This is to make sure you don't try to escape." Starscream announced before he rose to his feet once more.

Tenchi attempted to struggle against his bonds, which Starscream watched with a twisted amusement. Grunting and groaning, Tenchi continued to try to wriggle himself, then wrestle himself free from his bonds, but he found it was no use, before he eventually gave with a sigh. Then, the young man looked up to Starscream, who cast a dark shadow over him in contrast of the afternoon sky. Tenchi's eyes narrowed, while his brown lowered, to cast a glare at his robotic capture.

"You won't get away with this." Tenchi hissed.

"Hahahaha!" Starscream laughed. "Now who is going to stop me? You? One insignificant little flesh creature? Comedy won't set you free from your prison, human."

"My friends will stop you." Tenchi growled. "I might not have many powers to fend you off, but my friends do!"

"Ah yes." Starscream grinned. "Those same friends who would never wish to sacrifice you. I am aware of biology. Those females are drawn to you; they would sooner die than let their love be murdered because they were stupid enough to resist me. Your friends will come, but when they do, they will bring to me what I want...or else."

"They won't be bullied by the likes of you." Tenchi said, but gulped upon finishing his defiant sentence.

"Let them try!" Starscream declared. "Should they be crass enough to do it, then they shall meet their end after I crush you into a puddle of ooze."

Tenchi looked up Starscream again, but this time his glare of defiance feigned as his spirit began to wane. It seemed hopeless for the boy now, as Starscream had rendered him incapable of moving, and along with the fact that he threatened to kill Tenchi, should his friends attempt to rebel against the Decepticon's wishes convinced Tenchi that Starscream would get what he wanted. However, Tenchi wondered if Starscream was actually bluffing about ending Tenchi's life, should he friends come to his rescue, which he was convinced that would do. But then again, Tenchi thought, how could he trust Starscream to simply let him go once his demands were met. If his demands were met. Tenchi continued to ponder the possibilities for a while longer, when movement from Starscream caught his attention, taking his mind from his grim thoughts. He watched Starscream turn as he began to confidently stride away towards the edge of the building.

"Where are you going?" Tenchi called out. "You're not just going to leave me here, are you?"

"I have things to do to prepare for my first steps of dominance." Starscream replied.

"What do you mean?" Tenchi asked curiously.

"Heh." Starscream chuckled. "Do you really think this is all just to allow my freedom from your friend's ownership? No. I have plans for your country, human. Plans that will then allow me to take my rightful place as leader of the Decepticons. Now, I shall go, so just lie back and relax...and prey that I return in a good mood."

* * *

><p>Since the day the Decepticons had attacked the air force base on Okinawa island, the Japanese government had placed the country on high alert. This was a fact that Optimus Prime had become well aware of, due to the fact that the Japanese Prime Minister had staged a press conference the following day, saying while he praised the Autobots for their heroic efforts against the Decepticons, any Transformers spotted in Japan, or Japanese waters would be attacked to preserve the safety of the nation. With that in mind, Jetfire was currently skimming the upper atmosphere of the Earth as the super jet began to fly over Japan, with his sensors tuned to pick up Starscream, wherever he may have been. Inside the large super jet's cargo bay, Optimus Prime sat crouched up against a wall while he looked among his small crew of Autobots who were also sitting in the cargo bay with him. Along with the Autobot leader, there was Jazz, his special agent who had put the team together. Then, there was Ironhide, one of the older Autobots, who along with Jazz and Prowl, was one of Optimus Prime's inner circle; he also doubled as Optimus Prime's own bodyguard. Next was Trailbreaker, the Autobot's defense specialist, capable of producing highly powerful forcefields to protect the troops at a moment's notice, even though it was heavily taxing on his fuel reserves. Finally, there was the small Autobot, Brawn, who made up for his diminutive stature by being the strongest Autobot out of Optimus Prime's ranks on Earth. Because of his small size, Brawn was always eager to prove himself the strongest warrior, and one of the most useful under Optimus Prime's command; something he hoped he could show during their trip to Japan.<p>

"I can't wait to get a hold of Starscream." Brawn announced excitedly to the group as he cracked his metallic knuckles. "I'll show him what's what!"

"Chill, Brawn." Jazz said with a grin. "We dunno for sure yet that he's even in the land of the living. He might've kicked the old bucket for all we know."

"Besides which, we must try and maintain a low profile." Optimus Prime reminded the group. "Remember, our presence in Japan is currently not welcomed by the Japanese self defense force. We must be careful."

"Shoot, that just makes our job a heck of a lot harder." Ironhide grumbled. "You should have told that Prime Minister to go and chew on a microchip. If he knew what was good for him, he wouldn't condemn us like that."

"You know, Ironhide, if we just show him we transform into Japanese vehicles then maybe he'll let us off!" Trailbreaker joked, before he continued, "well, us anyway. I dunno about the German sports car, British 4x4, or the American semi truck here."

"We should respect his wishes. You must remember that humans fear what they don't understand; that is the feral instinct within them." Optimus Prime announced to the group. "Unfortunately, the situation requires us to go against his word, but we do so...discreetly."

"I'm afraid that might be impossible, Optimus Prime." Jetfire spoke with his voice echoing through the cargo bay.

"Whatchu talking about, man?" Jazz asked with a frown of confusion.

"Take a look at this." Jetfire replied.

Together, the Autobots all looked towards the northern wall of Jetfire's cargo hold, where a flat screen monitor as installed within the wall. It flickered on, where, following a small amount of static, the image of Starscream appeared before them, causing the Autobots to perk up slightly in alertness as their thoughts of Starscream being operational again were realized. A small red ticker lined the bottom of the screen, where Japanese writing quickly scrolled across the screen; a language that only Optimus Prime and Jazz recognized. Along with a digital clock on the side of the screen, the Autobots realized they were currently watched a news bulletin when Starscream spoke through the screen.

"Attention, citizens of Japan; particularly the leaders of this nation. I am Starscream, a Decepticon from the planet Cybertron- one of the robotic warriors who recently took part in the assault on one of your air force bases. I am here to tell you that I intend to take my rightful place as ruler of this highly advanced nation of the planet Earth. My merciless nature has been highlighted by the state that your air force base was in left upon my leave, but I am here to inform you that any resistance against my takeover over this nation will not end well. Observe what I hold..."

The Autobots continued to watch the news broadcast, much like many citizens of Japan. They watched intently to see Starscream turn away from the camera before him, as he then leaned towards the ground before he turned back around, and with a grin, displayed the still bonded Tenchi towards the camera.

"I have one of your own people in my custody. Now, I speak directly to the Prime Minister as well as the Emperor of Japan: if my demands are not met, and this country isn't in my hands by midnight tonight, this young man will become a rather unsightly mess at the bottom of the Umeda Sky Building. I know your nation holds honour in high regard. Are you willing to shame yourselves by allowing even one more of your people to die at my hands? I doubt it. You have until midnight, humans. The clock is ticking."

With that, the image of Starscream disappeared from the screen as the camera switched to a television studio,where the news anchor for the Japanese news began to summarize what had just been broadcast on the airwaves. By this point, Jetfire switched off the screen, while the Autobots rumbled vocally.

"Why that low down punk!" Ironhide cried with a fist in the air as he summarized the groups' feelings. "We need to get to that place to beat some humility into him!"

"I'm with you, Ironhide!" Brawn then announced. "Let's kick his tailpipe already!"

"We must act with caution." Optimus Prime said with his open palms in the air. "Remember, he now has a hostage that we cannot allow to become harmed at any time. We must plan our next move carefully."

"Optimus is right." Trailbreaker agreed. "Starscream's the kind of retro-rat who won't think twice about killing the kid if he feels threatened. What's your plan, Prime?"

Optimus Prime thought for a moment, as he had yet to actually figure out a complete plan; but before he could announce anything to his crew, a loud crash penetrated their robotic ears, invading their senses to the point they became dazed momentarily. The large craft they were in rocked violently from side to side, before an alarm then began to buzz throughout the large super jet which stirred the Autobots into a sense of panic.

"Jetfire, what's going on?" Optimus Prime called to their pilot.

"Bad news, Optimus," an injured sounded Jetfire announced. "We've got Decepticons in our air space."

Once again, the screen in the cargo bay switched itself back on so that the Autobots could see what had begun to transpire outside. A couple of hundred feet or so behind Jetfire, the familiar hulking silver form of Megatron flew through the sky with a smoking fusion cannon as he led a small group of Decepticon jets through the sky. Optimus Prime thought that they couldn't have come at a worse time.

"Jetfire, take evasive maneuvers!" Optimus Prime ordered.

"No can do." Jetfire gruffly answered. "Megatron gave me a well placed hit. One of my thrusters is offline, and my gyros are failing."

Another shot connected with Jetfire's super jet form, this one being more powerful than the last, which was evident as Jetfire then shook so violently that the Autobots were tossed from one side of the cargo bay to the other. Through the alarms that continued to buzz throughout Jetfire's jet form, Optimus Prime looked to the monitor, where he could hear Megatron roar towards the jet.

"Prime!" Megatron cried aloud. "I know why you're here. But I'm afraid to tell you that that treacherous little vermin is mine! I will not allow you to lay a finger on Starscream until he is stone cold dead in my hands!"

"Heh, so old Megatron's Starscream huntin' just like us." Jazz grinned through the bleak situation.

"In that case, let him get on with it." Brawn spoke. "We're sitting ducks out here."

"No, we can't do that." Optimus Prime retorted. "If we turn away from this, there's nothing to stop Megatron from claiming Japan for his own. We must fight back; Autobots, prepare for bat-..."

But before Optimus Prime could finish his orders to his men, another thundering shot caused the jet they were in to rumble violently, but this time, Optimus Prime felt the front of the jet tilt forward as it began to drop through the sky at such a velocity that the Autobots were once again tossed around the cargo bay like clothes in a washer as Jetfire began to drop out of the sky from a final, killing blow from Megatron's fusion cannon.

"My systems are failing!" Jetfire called to his passengers. "Brace yourselves, everyone. This isn't going to end well!"

"Everyone, prepare for crash landing!" Optimus Prime ordered to the group.

With smoke billowing from his bright white and red form, Jetfire continued to drop out of the sky like a large, heavy rock; something Megatron looked at with amusement as he and his small crew of Decepticon jet warriors had stopped to watch. With flames now spewing from Jetfire, Megatron gave a small chuckle at Jetfire's futile attempt to try and steer himself and his Autobot friends away from a grizzly death, for the jet began to pull up its nose as best as he could in a valiant attempt to steer himself away from the side of a large rocky mountain that he as approaching, that threatened to mangle his form up into an unrecognizable mess. But unfortunately for Jetfire, as he began to pull up in a bid to steer himself away from the mountainside, his under carriage violently scraped against the mountain side, causing the mountain to emit an echoing rumble into the sky. Pieces of rock immediately broke away from the mountain in the wake of Jetfire running across it, spewing dust up into the sky, which began to cloak Jetfire in a haze, but the Decepticons continued to watch on, until they heard a final violent crash that hung in the air, echoing as it ended. Through the haze, Megatron let out a triumphant growl to see that Jetfire had come to an ugly landing, upside down on a large road that wound around the mountain.

"Now that he's down, I shall pick him off." Megatron announced. "Thundercracker, prepare to intercept!"

With that, Megatron stretched out his body before he tumbled through the sky towards the blue F-15 jet that hovered in the air behind him, which began to transform into the Decepticon warrior, Thundercracker. At the same time that Thundercracker transformed to his robot mode, the tumbling Megatron's form began to twist, turn and contort as he transformed into his rifle form, maximizing his shape so that he was suitable to be wielded by a Transformer. Thundercracker caught Megatron carefully in his hands before he pointed the black barrel of Megatron's rifle form down towards the mountain where Jetfire lay motionless. Then, Thundercracker simply hovered, continuing to train the silver rifle down at the mountain, before a powerful blast of purple fusion energy shot out of the rifle with enough force that Thundercracker was shoved violently back from the backlash of the blast. Together, the Decepticons watched to see the streak of purple energy cut through the sky before it collided with the mountain side, where with an almighty explosion, the fusion blast tore large boulders of the mountain, which rained down on Jetfire's crippled form like giant hailstones. The rumbled echoed for miles around the mountain, which if the mountain was viewed from a fair distance, could now be masked by all the dust and dirt that was kicked up into the mountain air due to the machinations of Megatron's evil, who cackled with satisfaction upon seeing the Autobot super jet buried in a heap of heavy rubble. With a jerk, the Decepticon leader flew out of Thundercracker's hands, then he transformed back to his robot mode.

"So much for the Autobots." Megatron sneered. "Soon, I will be saying the same about Starscream. Decepticons, move out! We must stop that mindless idiot before he tries to steal this nation away- a nation that rightly belongs to me!"

With a sense of victory, Megatron shifted his position from standing and hovering in the sky, to becoming horizontal in the air, where he once again began to flew through the sky, towards Osaka, Japan, where he intended to deal Starscream as hard of a blow as he had dealt Jetfire. Behind him, Thundercracker transformed back to his jet form, leading Skywarp, Ramjet, Thrust and Dirge who all flew behind Megatron in an intimidating v formation, while their thrusters cut through the sky with a sense of dread spewing from their engines, much like the flames that pushed them on through the sky.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

For countless minutes, the mountain road, as well as the large pile of boulders that Jetfire and the Autobots lay under was motionless while the Decepticons flew on towards Osaka like the unstoppable army they were. But eventually, the large pile of rocks shifted very slightly, causing some of the small rocks on top of the pile to trickle off the rest of the large stack of rock. The rocks jerked again, and again, before the largest boulder in the boulder was lifted into the air, where it then flew into the air, bounced off the side of the pile of boulders, before it fell of the side of the mountain road, down to the ground far below.

From the darkness of underneath the tomb of rocks, the familiar green and yellow form of the small Autobot Brawn, then emerged through the hole, albeit dented and dusty from being covered in rocks. The Autobot lifted himself out of the hole that he had made for himself, then after standing at the top of the rock pile for a moment, Brawn jumped from the top of the mountain of rocks, where he landed heavily on the mountain road, causing it to crack slightly. He turned around, facing the rubble to see Ironhide emerge next, who shoved some more of the rocks out of his way, to make more room so that he, as well as the other large Autobots could make their way out. Ironhide fully slipped out from the hole, where he stood on the top of the rocky pile. He reached down into the hole, where he grasped a hand tightly- Jazz's hand, who he pulled out from the darkness of hole.

"Thanks for giving me a hand, Ironhide." Jazz chuckled to Ironhide before he leaped off the rock pile.

Ironhide couldn't help but grin at Jazz's wit. The mighty red Autobot then turned his attention back to the hole, which he reached down into again. This time, Ironhide clasped the hand of his leader, Optimus Prime, who, even though he was able to make his way out under his own power, gracefully took his loyal subordinate's offer, and allowed Ironhide to pull him up and out of the hole. Standing at the top of the mound of rocks, Optimus Prime stayed with Ironhide, but this time, Optimus Prime reached down into the hole, where his hand met with Trailbreaker's whom he assisted out from underneath the rubble.

"Good work, Trailbreaker." Optimus Prime said respectfully. "If you didn't activate your force field as Megatron cut out that blanket of boulders for us, we would've been nothing but sheet metal by now."

"Just doing what I can, boss; just doing what I can." Trailbreaker humbly replied.

"Now, we must dig Jetfire out." Optimus Prime announced to the group, after he, Ironhide and Trailbreaker jumped off the top of the rock pile.

However, as Optimus Prime informed the group of their next task and turned to face the large pile of rocks, he was surprised to see that the large, heavy pile of rocks began to thrash violently, where, following a large cloud of dust, the rocks flew up into the air, where they began to drop down the side of the mountain. Through the thick cloud of dust, the Autobots heard the slow, grinding sounds of transforming parts, then as the dust settled, the Autobot group looked to see Jetfire towering over them as he nursed a badly battered right arm, while sparks surged from his lower back.

"Jetfire, you're ok!" Ironhide announced thankfully.

"I'm alive," Jetfire began, "but I'm far from okay, Ironhide. Those blasts from Megatron have left me pretty banged up."

"What's the damage report?" Optimus Prime asked.

"Aside from a battered arm, my gyros are shot; not to mention the fact that he took out one of my jet boosters..."

Jetfire turned around, where he allowed the Autobots to see the full extent of his damage. In his super jet form, the large white jet that was Jetfire carried a large red pack, which had four large black rocket boosters on the end of it. This carried over into Jetfire's robot mode as it looked like a heavy backpack on his back; but now, as the Autobots looked on, they could see that the bottom of the pack, where the boosters were housed was now a twisted, burnt out, sparking wreck. Not only that, Jetfire had holes and tears in the plating of his lower back, as well as the top of his legs. It was a wince inducing sight, something which Optimus Prime silently cursed upon seeing it. He was counting on using Jetfire as the ace up his sleeve, for Jetfire was the only one in his group who could fly- something that would have come in handy to scale up the large Umeda Sky Building.

"Damn, I ain't seen your boosters kicked that bad in a long time!" Jazz exclaimed.

"Tell me about it." Jetfire chuckled to try and mask his feeling of hopelessness. "Unfortunately, from a flight perspective, I'm crippled, Optimus."

"This..complicates matters." Optimus Prime said hesitantly. "But we cannot allow it to stop us. One way or another, Japan is now once again under threat from the Decepticons, and with Jetfire out of the picture, we must press on without him."

The Autobot leader then turned from his group of Autobots before him, to look up at the large form of Jetfire who had continued to look down at his leader.

"Jetfire, we'll take it from here." Optimus Prime announced. "There is a range of forest not too far from here; I suggest you take refuge there to see if your repair systems can help you recover. As for the rest of us, we will continue to Osaka- by road. Autobots, transform and roll out!"

* * *

><p>Back at the Umeda Sky Building in the busy industrial area of Osaka, the usual bustling of commerce and business had seemingly halted. The streets were bare of trucks and taxis, while all trains that ran through the rail network in the center of the area had also halted. There were people still residing the usually heaving streets, but rather than attending to business deals, carrying out manual labour or hitting up the large electrical and fashion stores, the people simply stood to watch in awe as the large winged Decepticon who stood at the top of the Sky Building. In turn, Starscream simply looked down towards the small humans; feeling their fear, which caused Starscream to grin with pride and the superiority he felt over the Japanese people.<p>

He had noticed that even the authorities looked towards him with hesitation. Japan's self defence force had been called in after Starscream put out his news bulletin that hit the NHK news network, where they arrived to the area in tanks and military trucks, while helicopters fluttered high above the top of the Umeda Sky Building, but all they did was simply stand and look to Starscream, not being completely sure what to do. They had not been ordered to directly attack Starscream by their superiors within the Japanese ministry of defense, but instead their orders were to ensure that the public were kept back from the area around the Umeda Sky Building, and also provide the populous with some comfort with their presence- however, it was of little comfort to the frightened public. The Japanese Prime Minister was currently back in Tokyo in a meeting with the Japanese ministry of defense as to what to do about the metallic monster that had terrorized Okinawa not too long ago. Until the members of the Japanese SDF were told otherwise, their orders were to stay on their guard but only shoot if Starscream made some kind of move against them.

"Self Defense Force. What a joke." Starscream spat sarcastically. "A good army doesn't defend, they take the fight to their enemies. When Japan is mine, your people will understand what it is to be a true military empire, boy."

"You won't bully them into meeting your demands." Tenchi grumbled as he continued to struggle against his steel bonds.

"Oh no?" Starscream chuckled. "There are men down there with tanks, while the sky is littered with choppers, yet they haven't acted against me. I think I'm pushing them into submission quite well, and all I have to do is stand here!"

"You won't win." Tenchi said with a frown.

"Ha, and just who is going to stop me?" A cocky Starscream asked.

Tenchi looked to Starscream, then he closed his eyes with a grimace, for he knew the situation seemed hopeless. But then, a familiar voice echoed through the air, challenging Starscream's confidence.

_"I'll stop you!"_

With that, Tenchi opened his eyes in surprise, just in time to hear the loud sounds made by the collision of a fist smashing into metal while he watched Starscream's head violently thrust up into the air. The large Decepticon stumbled back, before he tripped on his own heel, landed violently on his back which caused the building to rumble violently beneath him. Looking past Starscream, Tenchi's eyes widened in surprise and happiness to see Ryoko hovering in the air, now clad in a black and red bodysuit as a look of vengeance ran across her face.

"You scorned the wrong woman, robot." Ryoko seethed with venom.

Starscream shook his head as he recovered from the violent blow to the face. Unusually, he said nothing, but instead he let his actions do the talking, for he raised his laser cannon towards Ryoko, which he fired upon Ryoko. In reaction, Ryoko's eyes widened before she quickly flickered out of view, teleporting away, only to reappear several feet higher in the air in a successful dodge of the proverbial bullet, which only angered Starscream further.

"I'll crush you!" Starscream screeched.

"Hmph. You'll need to catch me first." Ryoko replied.

If Starscream had attempted to keep his cool against the warrior maiden, it was a failed attempt, for he let out a loud cry of anger before he rose to his feet. Rushing across the roof of the Sky Building, Starscream then leaped into the air as he watched Ryoko turn in mid air as she began to her escape from her enemy. Seeing this, Starscream leaped into the air, where he shifted, transforming into his jet mode once again. The military on the ground looked on in surprise to see Starscream shoot from the cover of the roof like a well thrown dart, which only continued to accelerate faster and faster with each passing second, until he once again disappeared above the clouds on the hunt for Ryoko. But, as Starscream had risen into the sky to catch up with Ryoko, he growled angrily to find that the woman had disappeared once more, where she left no trace of her presence...until, that is, it was too late for Starscream to react.

Ryoko shifted back into Starscream's view, right in front of him. Holding her hands together so that the bottom of her palms touched each other, Starscream's sensors began to pick up a dangerously high power source, then he realized that it was actually coming from the woman as a large ball of golden energy suddenly appeared in the middle of her palms. With a thrust of her arms, Ryoko sent the glowing ball of energy straight for Starscream, who let out a scream of terror as the ball of energy collided with the tip of his nose cone. Starscream felt a wave of heat wash over him before his pain receptors began to surge violently, letting him know of the heavy damage he began to take as he felt the integrity of the metal that made up the nose cone and cockpit of his jet form begin to weaken. He transformed to his robot mode, but as his head slid back into place, the inside of Ryoko's right foot slammed into Starscream's cheek with a violent thud, forcing Starscream to let out a groan of pain, as well as a groan of irritation over the humility of being assaulted by a mere human.

But now, Starscream had been abused enough by this woman. Reaching out with his large right hand, Starscream wrapped his steel fingers around Ryoko, clasping her tight in his grip with such force that it caused Ryoko's lungs to expel the remaining she had in them. With a twisted grin, Starscream looked to her before he applied more pressure through his fingers, forcing her to let out a cry of discomfort, which brought amusement to the twisted Transformer.

"I will squeeze the fight out of you, flesh creature." Starscream growled. "You were a fool to think you could stop me."

"Come...to me...Ryo-Ohki..." Ryoko weakly announced.

By expending the final precious moments of oxygen she had, Ryoko let out one final gasp before she passed out from the constriction of Starscream's mighty grip. With that, Starscream chuckled again, but his amusement was short lived, for with a loud, echoing wail that resembled a meowing cat, the sky became alive with laser fire, all which began to beat down on Starscream. In a scream of surprise, Starscream released Ryoko from his grip, causing the woman to drop out of the sky while Starscream looked up to see the large alien ship that was Ryo-Ohki, now barraging Starscream with all of her arsenal. In a bid to avoid any further damage that he was currently taking from Ryo-Ohki's firepower, Starscream shifted back to his jet form. With a trail of flames, Starscream began to stream away from the large alien ship, which began to give chance for Starscream, meowing aggressively as she intended to exact revenge on Starscream for causing harm to her loved ones.

"You'll never get me!" Starscream cried.

With that, Starscream shifted back to his robot mode, where he turned in mid air to face the alien ship once again. He lifted his right arm into the air, aiming his laser weapon at the alien ship, which continued to fly towards Starscream, who saw that Ryo-Ohki didn't intend on backing down from him raising his deadly weapon towards her. Angrily, Starscream trained his laser weapon at Ryo-Ohki then fired it, letting a stream of purple energy fly from the barrel of the projector. The stream of energy shot through the air in an instant, crashing into the large purple dome at the top of Ryo-Ohki's ship form, which caused her to let out another meowing cry, this time one of pain before she began to drop out of the sky also, changing back into her furry rabbit like form in the process. With Ryo-Ohki following Ryoko and disappearing under the cover of the clouds, Starscream placed his fists on his red hip plates before he began to laugh with triumph.

"And now that those pests are done for, nothing can stop me."

Still feeling triumphant, Starscream turned his attention back towards the ground as he transformed back to his jet form, where he cut through the clouds to make his back back to the rooftop of the Umeda Sky Building to await the submission of Japan. Despite his confidence, Starscream was still somewhat surprised on how things were all going his way. Tenchi's friends had failed to defeat him, the Japanese armed forces weren't currently willing to challenge him at this point, and probably wouldn't. Best of all, Starscream thought, neither the Autobots, nor Megatron had seemed to make the effort to come to stop him and his plans; something he put down to the fact that neither side were aware that he was once again alive and conquering.

Starscream dropped through the clouds, but he found that the air was thick with another substance clouding his view of the skyline of Osaka below him. It wasn't because of clouds anymore; instead, the sky was lined with a thick blanket of kicked up dust, and thick smoke. Not only that, but Starscream could no longer hear the droning of rotating rotors of the military helicopters that had continuously flown around Osaka to keep an eye on him. All seemed still and silent, but Starscream decided on the fact that perhaps the Japanese SDF had given up and sent their helicopters and tanks away, something that may kicked up much dust and fumes from their retreat. But, as Starscream flew towards the roof of the Umeda Sky Building, seemingly drunk on his own sense of might, he transformed, landing on the rooftop of the large building, only to have a sobering feeling course through his circuits as he saw a familiar mighty figure standing across the roof of the building. As if he were waiting for him, the mighty figure stood with his hands on his black hip plates, while his silver plating was stained with blood and dust. With smoke trailing out of his mighty cannon, Starscream watched as the familiar face glared towards him with a rage that the Decepticon air commander knew only too well.

"Starscream!" Megatron bellowed, causing Starscream to cower slightly.

"M-Megatron." Starscream replied shakily. "I am surprised to see you here, my leader."

"Oh, I'm sure you are." Megatron then said.

With that, Megatron menacingly stomped towards Starscream with narrowed red robotic eyes, causing the smaller Starscream's eyes to widen. He stooped from a standing position, now to a slightly crouched posture, his head bowed in fear until Megatron stopped but a few feet away from him. Starscream, after a few moments hesitation, then looked up to Megatron's face, seeing that his leader was clearly keeping himself from lashing out at the insubordinate Decepticon.

"Your plans were all for naught, Starscream." Megatron then grinned.

"What do you mean?" Starscream asked.

"Why, look around." Megatron said with a gesturing hand.

Starscream did as Megatron ordered, allowing his gaze to travel from his leader to the ground far below the rooftop of the Umeda Sky Building. With a choke of surprise, Starscream looked about the streets around the large building to see that the tanks, military trucks and jeeps that had lined the streets of Osaka were now nothing more than burning, twisted heaps of metal. Buildings were heavily damaged, while telephone and power lines lined the blood stained streets like fell trees. Clearly responsible for the destruction were the Decepticon jet warriors who stood scattered about the streets, dirty, somewhat bruised, but also triumphant as they stood above the destruction, which included the crushed and dead bodies of members of the Japanese Self Defense Force.

"Your plan to take Japan for yourself and use it against me have failed Starscream." Megatron announced to a dumbstruck Starscream. "For as you see, if anymore members of this country's military try to stand against us, they will surely be crushed beneath our heels."

Starscream grimaced, squirming under Megatron's fear inducing glare. He didn't dare to move even a servo, for Starscream worried if he did, it would antagonize Megatron into striking him- something Starscream was surprised he had yet to do. Megatron then reached out an arm towards Starscream, causing Starscream to jerk his body slightly in preparation for a punch...or perhaps a back hand that would send Starscream crashing onto the floor. But, Starscream was surprised when he simply felt a black hand of Megatron's just rest on his shoulder.

"But, despite your failure, Starscream, your blind ambition has also inspired me." Megatron informed him. "While the Japanese's technology is inferior to our own, their work ethic and engineering skills are the best on this planet. Perhaps this nation would do well as a nation of slaves- to build me constructs to use in our war against the Autobots. With the Japanese under my authority, I may have found a way to crush my enemies! I should spare you, as you have stumbled on a plan of utmost prospect."

Hearing Megatron's words, the blanket of fear that had covered Starscream's psyche began to lift itself from his mind. It allowed Starscream to fully relax as he stood fully upright once again before he looked up to Megatron with grin. But then, his grins was quickly replaced by a look of shock when Megatron took his hand off his shoulder, then he struck Starscream violently to the floor of the Sky Building's observation deck.

"However," Megatron then continued, "I cannot afford to show my Decepticons that treachery is excusable under any circumstances! You have crossed the final line, Starscream."

"No Megatron, don't! Please!" Starscream pleaded. "I am still of value to you. As long as I have the Earth boy in my possession, the Japanese authorities will bend to me, for I am the one who made the threats. I-I can speak on your behalf, oh great Megatron!"

"Boy?" Megatron sneered with narrowed eyes. "What boy?"

"The human boy I have hostage." Starscream answered. "While we have him, they-..."

Starscream trailed off, with his voice slowly dimming until he was completely silent, for as he looked behind Megatron to the spot he had left Tenchi, Starscream was shocked to see that Tenchi, wheelbarrow and all was no longer there. With a sense of dread, Starscream rose to his feet, despite Megatron training his fusion cannon at him. Megatron looked on in confusion to see Starscream scramble past him, his head turning quickly from side to side looking for Tenchi, but it was obvious the boy had disappeared.

"Where is he?" Starscream asked with panic. "Where's the human boy?"

"Do not try to delay your fate." Megatron announced. "There is no boy."

With that, Megatron aimed his fusion for the back of Starscream's head, once again looking to put an end to Starscream's treacherous existence once and for all, but then, he stopped. Hearing his name echo through the sky, Megatron turned his attention to the ground far below him to see that one of his warriors, the Decepticon red jet known as Thrust call out to him. Starscream looked to Thrust also, who, after noticing he had Megatron's attention, then pointed up towards a building that as directly across from the Umeda Sky Building's east side. Megatron and Starscream followed Thrust's hand, where they looked to the top of the opposing building as their jaws slackened slightly in surprise to see a sight they were not prepared for.

Fully rising on top of the tower, a large figure then stood on the roof of the opposing tower, at about the same height that Starscream stood. With broad wings that pierced the air, the figure's body sparkled slightly in the sun, showing the Decepticons who now all collectively looked on at the figure to see that it was metallic like them. Focusing their full sight on the figure, Megatron and Starscream now saw that figure didn't only have wings like the Decepticon warriors, was the same height, and even made of metal like they were, but they found that it looked exactly like Starscream! However, Megatron recognized that the being standing before them on the opposite building was not a warrior of the Decepticon ranks. Whoever this mech was, Megatron thought, it was not a Decepticon- a fact that was accentuated due to the fact that where the Decepticon insignia would be on the mech's wings, there were instead images of cartoon drawn red crabs. Finally, after a few moments silence, voice echoed from the mech, causing Starscream to perk up in realization that he knew the mech well- or at least, the occupier of it.

"Sorry," the voice of Washu called out to the Decepticons. "But you took something that didn't belong to you, so I came along to take it back."

The mech warrior, that looked exactly like Starscream then stepped forwards, before it leaped off the side of the building. The robot dropped through the sky a few feet, before powerful thrusters in its boots propelled it back up into the air, before it flew and stopped at the half way mark between the building it had stood on, as well as the building Megatron and Starscream had occupied, where the two Decepticons looked to see through the yellow glass canopy in the robot's torso, that looked exactly like Starscream, to see Washu sitting in a large chair, while Tenchi sat in another chair behind her, with a semi-conscious Ryoko in his lap.

"What is the meaning of this?" A surprised Megatron asked. "Who is this flesh creature?"

"Well, thank you for asking!" Washu called back to Megatron as she spoke through a microphone that projected her voice through a speaker in the Starscream clone's mouth.

"I am Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe! I was the one that brought Starscream there back to life. Sadly, he ran away on me and took a friend of mine with him. But, now I've got him back, I just need to give Starscream his weapons back and then we're even."

"Then give them to me!" Starscream shrieked as he pushed past a dumbstruck Megatron.

"Hm. As you wiiish." Washu grinned in a sing-song like voice.

Starscream then looked on to see Washu begin to manipulate the controls inside the cockpit of her mech warrior, which ultimately caused the robot's right arm to rise. Starscream looked to the robot fully, expecting to see it hold out his null ray projector, as well as his arm mounted laser cannon. Instead though, what Starscream was given was different from what he expected, for a bolt of purple energy flew out of the cannon of the null ray before Starscream had a chance to react. The laser energy collided with Starscream's chest, where the red Decepticon let out a stunned cry before he then dropped to the floor of the building's observation deck. Starscream attempted to move, but as he knew all too well, the effects of the null ray prevented any kind of movement from its victim, for it was able to disrupt the flow of electricity in anything that the null ray was shot at. Washu knew this all too well also, for she then aimed the null ray cannon at Megatron, who looked to Washu with a look of disgust as Washu activated the null ray once more. The null ray's energy was sent hurling towards Megatron, much like it had Starscream, but the wily Megatron was able to deflect the blast at his person when he raised his right forearm, where with a surge of energy, a protective square shaped shield appeared before his forearm. The null ray blast hit Megatron's shield, where it deflected the shot before it then disappeared into thing air, causing Washu to gulp, for she hadn't expected Megatron to react so quickly and calmly. Then, it was Megatron's next order that caused Washu to worry.

"Decepticons, attack- destroy this pretender!"

Looking down to the ground through the glass canopy of the cockpit, Washu saw that the five Decepticon jet warriors who had traveled with Megatron to Japan before to rise from the ground into the air. All in their robot modes, Ramjet, Thrust, Dirge, Thundercracker and Skywarp all rushed up vertically for Washu as they began to fire their arm mounted laser cannons that caused a hail of laser fire to shoot through the sky towards Washu's robot. Tenchi let out a scream of fear from the incoming firepower, but staying calm, Washu took hold of the robot's controls, causing the robot to quickly accelerate up into the sky, where the Decepticons' shots simply failed to catch her. The Decepticons continued with their pursuit as they flew up into the sky right behind her, with the power in their thrusters being enough that they were quicker gaining on Washu's robot with each passing second. This forced Washu to act accordingly.

"Hold on tight back there." Washu called to Tenchi.

Tenchi, who continued to hold a stunned Ryoko in his lap, squeezing the woman in his arms to told her tightly as Washu reached for a large lever on the control deck of the robot's cockpit. She pulled the lever with much force, before Tenchi's eyes widened in surprise as the cockpit of the giant robot began to rumble violently. Watching on, Tenchi looked out of the glass canopy of the cockpit to see that the sky outside of the cockpit seemed to twist and turn, as if he was on a roller coaster ride. Finally, he heard a series of clicks, before the violent shifting stopped, but then he felt a powerful force hit him, forcing him further back into his seat as he felt the robot accelerate.

"What's going on?" Tenchi grunted against the heavy velocity.

"I've just transformed this thing." Washu called to Tenchi. "Hang on tight; speed's going to pick up from here!"

Tenchi let out a scream, which was followed by a loud meow of surprise from Ryo-Ohki, who sat at Washu's feet as the robot, that was now a jet plane shot through the sky at such a speed that the Decepticons were having problems keeping up. Training their weapons on the jet before them, all five Decepticons fired a barrage of weapons fire at the jet. This was something Washu picked up on when an alarm began to ring out in the cockpit of the jet while a red light began to flash on and off in time with the alarm, which caused a small holographic screen to appear before Washu to show her what was happening behind her. Much to Tenchi's distress, Washu caused the jet to drop sharply from its height in the sky to avoid the Decepticons' barrage, before the jet began to twist and turn once again as it transformed back to its robot form. Looking on inside the cockpit, Washu saw that the group of Decepticons now stood together in the sky, preparing their next attack. All of them, that is, except for Ramjet, who transformed to his own alternate form of a white jet with red wings, where with a roar of jet engines, the Decepticon shot off towards Washu with cruel intentions.

"I'll take this flesh creature down with force!" Ramjet roared to his Decepticon brothers.

Washu watched the jet rocket towards her, then she made her move. Manipulating the controls in the cockpit, Washu caused the robot's right arm to rise up from its side, where it aimed towards the incoming Ramjet. Then, with the press of a small red button on top of a joystick she had pulled back, Washu caused a bolt of energy to fire from out of the null ray. Crashing with Ramjet's nose cone, Ramjet let out a cry of distress as Washu, as well as the other Decepticons watched Ramjet's engines immediately cut out before the jet began to drop out of the sky.

"Boy, this thing is good." Washu sighed to Tenchi.

"Watch out, Washu, here come some more." Tenchi announced.

Washu turned her attention from Tenchi to her surroundings to see that another Decepticon warrior was flying away from the group to try his luck against the human operated robot. This one, the lighter blue Decepticon known as Thundercracker was flying directly for the robot, ready to deal it the killing blow necessary, but as he did, Washu took to her controls once again as she prepared to fight off the Decepticon. However, before she could raise her robot's fists in defense of Thundercracker, both she and Tenchi felt the robot begin to shake violently as the sound of grinding gears, that were trying to resist was heard in the cockpit.

"Ahhh! Washu, what's going on?" Tenchi cried in alarm.

Washu groaned in panic, before another holographic screen appeared in front of her eyes; this one showing her that the black Decepticon warrior, Skywarp had somehow appeared behind her robot and grabbed it by its arms, ultimately restraining it. What Washu didn't know was that Skywarp was able to teleport many miles at a time, and while not being bright enough to be creative with his special ability, the fact that Washu was unaware of it allowed Skywarp to use his less than original plan and snare Washu in his and Thundercracker's trap, who now hovered in the air before Washu's robot.

"Let's rip this thing open." Thundercracker growled towards Skywarp, who chuckled viciously.

What happened next made Washu and Tenchi's blood run cold, for as they sat helpless in the cockpit of Washu's robot, they saw a large black fist suddenly fly towards them, before it collided with the glass canopy of the robot's cockpit. The collision of Thundercracker's fist against the cockpit caused the cockpit to shake violently, with the humans inside crying out from the violent rumble as the glass in the cockpit's canopy began to shake. Washu looked on, then let out another scream of fear as she then saw Thundercracker open his fist before he then gripped the glass canopy of the cockpit tightly in his fingers before he then began to pull his arm backwards. The glass of the cockpit cracked even more until it finally gave way as Thundercracker's fingers went straight through the glass, forcing his fingers into the cockpit until they brushed up against Washu herself. The metal in the cockpit began to whine as Thundercracker continued to pull at the cockpit in a bid to try and pry it open, no doubt to get at the pilot and passengers inside. Washu attempted to resist the Decepticons' attack as she gripped the joysticks that controlled the robot, but despite her trying to move the robot, she found that the joysticks were locked in place, due to the fact that Skywarp had a tight grip of the robot- something he wasn't prepared to relent. Washu wracked her mind, trying to think of what to do. The robot's primary weapons were next to useless, due to the fact Skywarp had restrained the robot's arms. The robot also couldn't move, due to the fact Skywarp held it tightly, so there weren't many options as to do what to do. But then, Washu had an idea, causing her eyes to widen in realization before she pulled the same lever that she did earlier, hoping that her idea would work.

Not satisfied with how long it as taking to pry open the cockpit of the robot, Thundercracker released his grip of the cockpit, then he raised his arm mounted laser cannon towards the cockpit instead as he decided to simply blast it open. But as he released his grip on the cockpit and let off a blast from his laser cannon, Washu found her plan worked perfectly for the robot shifted back into its jet mode. By transforming to its jet mode, the robot actually shrunk, causing Skywarp to release his grip on the robot; and as the jet began to climb into the sky, Skywarp could only howl with pain as Thundercracker's ill placed shot burned a hole into his chest plate. Wracked with pain from the shot, Skywarp tumbled out of the sky, before he was followed by a disabled Thundercracker when Washu made her robot transform back to its robot, shooting Thundercracker with a blast from the null ray which sent a disabled Thundercracker dropping to the ground along with the injured Skywarp. This left Dirge and Thrust left to go against Washu, but before either them were able to act, Washu shot the null ray at Dirge, causing him to drop out of the sky immobile, much like Skywarp had done just seconds before, leaving Thrust as the only Decepticon jet warrior left. Hesitantly, Thrust began to fly from his position in the sky, up towards Washu, who kept her robot hovering in the air, before she attempted to fire the null ray projector at Thrust, hoping to pick him off the same fashion, but Thrust deduced Washu's plan of attack, so he transformed to his jet mode, which was unique for it had engines built vertically in the panels of his wings. Because of this, Thrust was able to pull up and climb vertically up into the air, where he effortlessly avoided Washu's shot.

Washu watched on, seeing that Thrust now went from flying vertically, to instead flying straight for her robot. In the few seconds that she had to think, the scientists had come to the conclusion that she had began to rely too heavily on Starscream's null ray as her weapon- something the Decepticons had now picked up on, which showed as Thrust was ready to dodge any potential shot she attempted. With a grim look, she caused her robot to transform back to its jet form, then she made the jet accelerate towards Thrust, who continued to fly towards her also.

"Washu, what are you doing?" Tenchi asked hesitantly.

"I've used Starscream's laser weapon too much." Washu informed the teenager. "We're going to have to try a kamikaze assault."

"Kamikaze?" Tenchi gulped. "Washu- you can't be serious!"

"BANZAAAAI!" Washu cried as she pushed the joysticks further forwards to speed up the jet.

Tenchi's scream filled the cockpit, causing Ryo-Ohki to pull down on her ears as she cowered at Washu's feet while the jet continued to speed towards Thrust. The Decepticon jet looked towards Washu's jet, wondering why she wasn't doing anything other than fly towards him; until, he realized, that she was playing a game of high altitude chicken with him. Determined not to be the one to break, Thrust continued on his path with Washu, who began to hear alarms whine in her cockpit for the robot's systems were alerting her that she on a collision course Thrust. In response to this, Washu let out another cry as Thrust was milliseconds away from becoming an extension of her jet's cockpit...until, that is, the cowardly Thrust lost his nerve at the last second, and with a cry of his own, Thrust quickly dropped his altitude, forcing him to drop under Washu's jet, the undercarriage of which scraped against the top of Thrust's jet form, causing sparks to fly from between the two planes. Then, as Thrust let out a pained whine while he dropped through the sky, Washu caused her robot to transform back to its warrior form, turn around before she made it fire the null ray into Thrust. Immediately, Thrust's systems in his cockpit dimmed as they shut down before the dark red jet continued to plunge further and further through the sky to meet a hard landing on the road far below.

"Whew!" Washu sighed. "My gambit worked."

"So, what would you have done if that robot didn't crack first?" Tenchi asked.

"Well...We would've all become one big jet sandwich." Washu announced as she looked over her shoulder with a grin to Tenchi.

Meanwhile, with all the action going on up in the sky, Megatron had stayed on the roof of the Umeda Sky Building, simply watching on in disgust as one by one, each of his Decepticon jet warriors crashed out from the sky, beaten by a human operated robot. Unable to take the indignity of seeing some of his finest warriors beaten any longer, Megatron kicked a recovering Starscream back down to his exhaust, before he looked up to the sky with great anger.

"Enough!" Megatron snapped. "I will handle this myself."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

With that, Megatron angrily took off into the sky, causing the roof beneath his feet to rumble before it cracked underneath his mighty take off. Roaring with rage, Megatron climb high into the sky, piercing the clouds until he saw the hovering robot form of Washu's mech warrior, who noticed Megatron coming as the robot's sensors once again began to alert of an hostile presence with a loud sound. In reaction to Megatron's appearance, Washu manipulated the robot so that it raised its arm towards Megatron to aim Starscream's null ray cannon at Megatron. But, as she prepared to fire the weapon, she screamed in surprise to see Megatron reach out with his mighty black hand before he grabbed the null ray, then he ripped it violently from the robot's arm, causing sparks to fly from broken circuits, while mech fluid also poured from the open wound in its arm. But not satisfied with just removing Washu's favoured weapon from her robot, Megatron struck the head of Washu's robot- which resembled Starscream's head- with the end of the null ray cannon, before he threw the null ray away with no regard. Megatron then attempted to grab the robot, but before he could, Washu quickly forced the robot to transform back to its jet mode. Immediately, the jet roared away from Megatron's grasp as it descended down from the sky, making a retreat for the city of Osaka below.

"There's no escape from Megatron." The Decepticon leader stated with a balled fist.

With that, Megatron continued his flight as he now began to chase the jet down towards the skyline of Osaka. Seeing that Megatron was closing in on her robot, Washu took to the many large buildings in the city, weaving and turning around each building to try and shake off Megatron, but the Decepticon leader, while broad and heavy looking, was as agile as any Decepticon, so he was able to keep up with the jet by weaving between each large building also. This caused Washu to become unnerved.

"I don't think this one's going to go down so easily." Washu muttered.

"So, what do we do?" Tenchi asked anxiously.

"Not much. He's big, he's powerful, and he's mean. I doubt Starscream's weapons are going to do him much harm..."

Washu looked over her shoulder, seeing Ryoko stirring in Tenchi's grip as she began to come back around. Frowining, Washu decided to aid Ryoko in her recovery as she left the controls of the robot for a second to turn in her seat, allowing her palm to collide against Ryoko's cheek in a harsh slap. With a bright red cheek, Ryoko was pulled out from her unconscious daze as she blinked, then she glared towards Washu, seeing her pull her arm away from her burning face as the culprit.

"Hey!" Ryoko cried. "What's the big-..."

"Shut up!" Washu snapped. She did this so loud that it caused the usually fierce Ryoko to actually quiet down.

"Now," Washu continued, "how do you feel? Can you fly?"

"Fly?" Ryoko asked. "Well, I suppose I can..."

"Good." Washu replied. "Then when I tell you, I want you to grab a tight hold of Tenchi and Ryo-Ohki, then fly. As far as you can."

"But why?" Tenchi then asked as the scientist handed Ryo-Ohki to the couple in the back seat.

"Because I don't have many options left, Tenchi..." announced a sullen Washu.

With that, Washu plopped herself fully back in her seat, taking back the controls of the robot after she seated once again. She looked at one of the many holographic screens now before her, seeing that Megatron was just seconds away from being able to grab the jet, which he could no doubt pluck out of the air. In a bid to avoid Megatron for a few seconds longer, Washu quickly turned the jet around to face Megatron, then the jet flew under Megatron, who growled as he failed to catch the jet, which doubled back and retreated from Megatron, who once again continued the chase. Buying a little more time for her friends, Washu then caused the jet to barrel roll, forcing the jet to fly upside down; then, after buckling up, Washu looked to Ryoko as she pulled a lever which caused the cockpit to open.

"Go, now!" Washu cried.

Ryoko didn't aruge. As the wind howled in her ears, as well as forcing her aqua coloured hair to flutter violently, Ryoko hugged Tenchi tightly against her, while he held the small Ryo-Ohki tightly in his shirt before she then dropped out of the cockpit. Now in the open air, Ryoko began to fly off towards the west, something Megatron failed to notice as he flew right past them and continued to pursue Washu. Noticing that Ryoko had successfully flown away, Washu closed the cockpit back up, righted the jet back so that it was the right way up before the jet pulled up higher into the sky, where she flew it towards the Umeda Sky Building, where Starscream was still recovering.

Slowly, Starscream had finally risen to his feet, for the effects of the null ray had finally worn off, allowing the Decepticon air commander to move again. Hearing the roar of jet engines, Starscream looked up to see that Washu's jet was flying towards him. Readying himself, Starscream opened his hands, then as Washu flew past him, but a few feet above his head, Starscream hopped up into the air, forcing his left hand to swipe the air. His palm collided with the jet's nose cone, forcing the jet to barrel out of control until it violently landed on the observation deck of the Umeda Sky Building before the jet then slowly transformed back to its robot mode, where it lay on its back with a bloody and dazed Washu lying inside it.

"Good work, Starscream." Megatron announced when he landed. "Perhaps you're not completely useless after all."

"Thank you, mighty Megatron." Starscream said with a sniveling bow of his head as he clutched his hands together.

Megatron took his attention away from Starscream as he strode across the observation deck of the large tower, focusing his attention on Washu and the robot that lay on the ground beneath him. Megatron stood still for a moment, allowing his powerful body to cast a shadow over the robot, as Washu came back around in the cockpit to see the Decepticon leader peered through the cockpit at her. Immediately, she attempted to make an escape, grabbing the controls to make the robot rise up to try and get away. Unfortunately for Washu, the robot failed to respond as the crash she had taken seemed to damage the robot enough that its gears and servos simply whined and ground together, but didn't move. Megatron noticed that the robot was crippled, so he placed his foot on the robot's chest, immediately causing the cockpit to begin to buckle inwards, which Washu noticed, caused the cockpit to shrink.

"Now, I shall terminate this nuisance." Megatron spoke.

"Wait!" Starscream called to Megatron, who looked towards him. "This flesh creature could be valuable to us."

"She is but one woman of millions on this planet, Starscream." Megatron replied.

"Yes," Starscream answered. "But, she has enough advanced technological know how to create a robot that was able to pick nearly all of us off. Imagine the spoils back at her advanced laboratory, that I was in. She repaired me! This is no ordinary woman, mighty Megatron."

"You can say that again!" Washu called out from the cockpit, for she momentarily forgot about her impending death, due to the compliment.

Megatron looked from Starscream, back down to the robot. Taking his foot off the robot's chest, Megatron grabbed the robot roughly by the shoulder to effortlessly pull it from its back before he held it high up into the air, so he could see Washu, who continued to sit inside the crushed cockpit.

"Perhaps you can be useful to us." Megatron announced with a tilted head. "Feel honoured, woman for I am about to offer you a luxury that I seldom offer fleshlings. I shall give you a chance to join us, and spare your life, in return to working for me."

"Well now, tell me more." Washu replied as she began to press some buttons on the robot's controls. Something Megatron didn't really take notice of.

"Starscream tells me you have things back at your lab that could be of use to me. Surrender the contents of your laboratory to us, and devote yourself to the Decepticon cause and you will be rewarded."

"You mean you'll give me my own planet? Or perhaps a star system?" A hopeful looking Washu asked.

"Hah, no." Megatron snorted. "But, I will allow you to live as my pet."

"Well buddy, that's an interesting offer..." Washu began. "But I'll have to decline. It doesn't sound like a good deal to me."

"Then you shall die." Megatron replied.

"Nah, I doubt I will. But, for taking down my little robot, I'll reward you with a firework show." Washu cackled.

With a final button press, Washu let out a loud, crazed laugh as the robot's computer announced a self destruct sequence. The robot began to shake violently in Megatron's hand, while the computer began a ten second count down.

"By the way, Megatron," Washu announced, "you'd best say your goodbyes to Starscream."

Hearing that, Starscream's eyes widened before he rushed towards Megatron whom he collided with in his blind panic.

"Starscream, you fool! What are you doing?"

"Megatron!" Starscream cried. "The woman put a bomb in my head! I'm going to explode; help me!"

Megatron looked to Starscream with disbelief, then he pressed a palm roughly into Starscream's shoulder as he shoved him down to the ground beside the robot at the five second mark. As Starscream landed, he turned his head to notice that the robot's cockpit as now absent of its pilot as Washu had seemingly disappeared.

"Help me, Megatron!" Starscream cried.

_"3...2..."_

"Consider this your punishment, Starscream." Megatron announced as he took off into the sky.

_"1..."_

"Megatron!" Starscream cried.

With that, a loud bleep began to sound through Starscream's head, causing Starscream to jerk as he rolled over onto his stomach. He clutched his knees up to his chest, which he wrapped his arms around as he prepared to meet his doom. But after several seconds of shutting his eyes, Starscream realized he was still alive. He opened his eyes and pulled himself onto his knees as he felt his right hand jerk. Looking to it, Starscream watched to see his right hand drop off from his wrist, before it as replaced with a flag that slid out of the arm, showing a cartoon image of Washu holding her middle finger up, in what Starscream recognized as a gesture that was offensive to the Earthlings. Starscream grumbled under his breath, then he rose to his feet. But as he did, he noticed that the robot beside him began to glow a bright yellow colour, then Starscream suddenly found himself encased in a white light as finally, a bomb that was implanted inside the robot's chest detonated.

The bomb tore through the sound barrier as the sound of an explosion was heard for miles, while the sky of Osaka turned a bright white, forcing the skyline of Osaka to become a large silhouette. The ground around the Umeda Sky Building rumbled violently while a shockwave flew from the roof of the Sky Building, where it collided with the many buildings around it, causing the glass windows in the buildings to shatter. The shockwave caused cars to shatter and implode while their alarms began to whine in the sky. Finally, amid all the destruction, the destruction of the since evacuated Umeda Sky Building was realized as the force of the bomb caused the building to crack, then it shattered before it disappeared, with all of its material dropping from the sky, where it rained down onto the ground, with each brick and girder echoing amidst the continuous rumbling of the violent explosion.

Finally, after many countless minutes, the dust of destruction settled and all became silent. This forced Megatron to raise his head from out of the rubble, as he had been caught by the blast, where he crashed to the ground to be covered in dust and debris. Stunned, Megatron began to look around, seeing that the surrounding area now resembled a wasteland. He checked his systems, where he grimaced to see that the blast and fall had taken its toll. He had suffered 87 per cent of the damage that his body could withstand before he would enter a shut down, and his energy levels were now low. Slowly, he rose to his knees, then Megatron continued to look around, seeing that Starscream lay near him, albeit with a gaping hole in the right side of his torso. His right forearm, as well as his hand had been ripped from the rest of his arm, no doubt from the force of the blast, while much of his body had been stripped of its metal plating, instead exposing his exo skeleton to the open air. Seeing this, and reflecting on his own damaged state, Megatron realized that there was little he could do now. As much as it pained him to admit it, the human known as Washu had actually forced he and his Decepticons to their knees. If he attempted to defy what his systems were telling him to try and continue on his mission to conquer Japan, Megatron realized that he may find himself on the scrap heap.

"Decepticons..." Megatron began weakly over his radio. "If you are hearing this, this is your leader, Megatron. If you are able to, I order you back to headquarters immediately."

Weakly, Megatron lifted himself up into the sky, where he saw Thrust and Thundercracker begin to weakly lift up into the air; both had sustained heavy damage to themselves and they were all too keen to act upon Megatron's order. Eventually, Megatron noticed Ramjet, Skywarp and finally Dirge fly up into the air, where they slowly began to join him in the sky. Realizing that left only Starscream in the debris of the Umeda Sky Building, Megatron looked down to the ground, pointing to it.

"Somebody grab Starscream." Megatron ordered to the surprised Decepticons. "I do not wish for a repeat performance of the past few hours."

Despite their reservations, Skywarp and Ramjet dropped back down from the sky, where they grabbed Starscream between them. Starscream wasn't liked by any of the Decepticon jet warriors, who were actually under the command of Starscream, but despite that, Megatron had ordered he be rescued, and so Skywarp and Ramjet were acting as their leader wished. With Starscream between them, the weak Decepticons returned to the sky, where they joined the others, who, led by Megatron made their slow retreat from Osaka, bound for the United States of America for repairs. Their retreat didn't go unnoticed as driving along the streets of Osaka towards the epicenter of the explosion was Optimus Prime,who led the Autobots in their vehicle forms.

"Look!" Ironhide announced. "It's the Decepticons!"

"Yes, but they look the worse for wear." Optimus Prime answered as his robotic sight zoomed in on their condition.

The Autobots continued to drive along the streets, until finally, they had reached the area most affected by the explosion of the bomb. Optimus Prime applied his brakes, where he stopped with a hiss while the other Autobots stopped behind him.

"So, all that rumbling really was an explosion." Jazz said as the Autobots transformed to their robot forms. "I wonder how this happened."

"Maybe Megatron and Starscream got into a fight." Trailbreaker said. "One explosive show down, huh?"

"I would've like to have seen that!" Brawn grinned.

"I can't see the Decepticons in fighting enough to level a large building. Even Megatron, blinded by rage, would realize what a waste of energy that is." Optimus Prime said as he thought out loud. "There must be another reason for this."

"Yeah, but what?" Ironhide asked.

"I'm responsible." A voice grunted, causing the Autobots to look about their surroundings with surprise.

It took a few moments, but finally, Jazz was the first to notice a pile of bricks and steel begin to shift, with a face poking out through a large crack between the pile of debris. Immediately, Jazz rushed over to the pile of debris that lay before a half wrecked building. Brawn followed him, as ever, eager to prove his mighty strength as he began to help Jazz clear away the pile of wreckage in no time, which revealed Washu underneath; bruised, dusty, but alive. Wearily, the woman looked up to Jazz and Brawn, then to Optimus Prime, Trailbreaker and Ironhide, who peered down at Washu over Jazz's shoulder.

"Madame, are you hurt?" Optimus Prime asked with concern.

"No." Washu replied bluntly. "I'm alright, aside from being a bit dizzy from that explosion. Whew! I didn't realize that bomb would pack such a wallop."

"Come on now, you're flicking our switches." Jazz stated as he poked the tip of his black finger into Washu's stomach ever so gently. "You mean to tell me you really caused all this."

"Mmm-hmm."

"But why?" Optimus Prime asked in concern. "What would possess you to do such a thing?"

"Because, I'm the greatest scientific genius in the universe!" Washu replied.

"And?" Ironhide asked. "What's your point, little lady?"

"My point," Washu began, surprised, "is that one of your kind decided to take a good friend of mine and threaten his life, despite my bringing him back from the verge of death. I was just paying the one you call Starscream back."

"Starscream?" Trailbreaker cried out in surprise. "Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that it was you that brought about his revival?"

"Yes." Washu answered. "But, I'm not quite proud of it now, to tell you the truth. I wish I just left him as a heap of scrap- something I'm confident I can freely say, since I am in the presence of Autobots, I presume."

"Your assumption is correct." Optimus Prime then said. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Who might you be?"

"My name is Washu. I've heard of you, Optimus Prime, and must say I'm honoured to be in the presence of such a famous leader."

Optimus Prime detected a hint of sarcasm in the pink haired woman's tone, but he decided to dismiss it. Brawn continued to look at Washu during this time, wondering how she alone could have caused such destruction, as well as force the Decepticons to retreat as they had arrived. After a few seconds, the small Autobot unfolded his arms before he spoke.

"Hang on, I know what's going on here." Brawn stated. "She's trying to dupe us. She didn't really cause all this! She probably just didn't escape one of these buildings on time, that's all."

"Hmm." Washu murmured as she looked towards Brawn with a grin. "You think I'm lying, Autobot? What is your name?"

"I'm Brawn; the strongest of the Autobots." Brawn stated proudly, puffing out his chest while folding his arms as he spoke. "And missy, you aren't fooling me."

"Alright then, Brawn," Washu replied. "Allow me to prove myself to you."

The Autobots watched Washu curiously- Brawn included, whose looked turned to one of concern as Washu held out her hands in the air, where a ghostly image of a computer laptop appeared before her. With a wicked grin, Washu looked Brawn, then she pressed a button on her laptop, causing Brawn to cry out in surprise as he found himself shifting into his Land Rover form, without actually meaning to. He attempted to transform back to his robot mode, but Brawn let out a panicked wail as he found himself stuck in his vehicle form.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Washu tittered.

"Well I'll be scrap iron." Ironhide said. "She just done turned Brawn into a regular old 4x4."

"Yep, and I could do the same to the rest of you." Washu said teasingly, when she noted a worried expression hit most of the Autobots' faces. "Or maybe even worse."

However, Optimus Prime didn't seem to be phased by Washu's comment like Jazz, Ironide and Trailbreaker were.

"I'd thank you to allow Brawn to transform again, miss Washu." Optimus Prime announced politely. "I believe you have made your point."

"Since you ask so nicely, Mr. Prime, I'll be glad to." Washu replied.

Washu looked back to her laptop again. She pushed the same button, then with a series of clicks, hiss and gears grinding, Brawn quickly transformed back to his robot mode so fast that as he stood, the small Autobot lost his footing and fell on his backside to the ground, something that caused Trailbreaker to laugh at the comical sight of seeing the powerful Brawn humbled. Amused by Trailbreaker's laugh, Washu failed to notice that Jazz had yet to take his eyes off her; until, that is, she turned her head to find his large head peering down at her.

"You confuse me." Jazz began. "You seem nice and all, but you helped a dirty Decepticon crook back to life enough that he threatened your whole country. What gives, lady?"

"Well, I must tell you that this isn't really my country." Washu explained. "You see, like you, I'm from another planet, many light years away from this one. It just happens I ended up crash landing here one day after I was banished from my own planet. As for why I helped Starscream, well, I'm a scientist- the greatest scientist in the universe, in fact. Repairing complex technology is one of my interests, since robotics is but one of all the sciences that I am a master of."

"Huh." Jazz muttered in response. "Ain't that something."

"You know, Prime," Ironhide whispered as he positioned himself at Optimus Prime's side. "If she was able to patch up Starscream that good, maybe she can fix up Jetfire enough so that we can get out of here."

"A fair point." Optimus Prime nodded to Ironhide as he turned his attention back to the small woman before them. "Miss Washu, perhaps we might be able to appeal to your charitable nature..."

* * *

><p>A few days later, Washu was sat in the comforting darkness of her laboratory, located in the alternate dimension in the Masaki house's broom closet as weary green eyes danced across the screen of her usual holographic laptop. She took her hands away from the keyboard for a few, allowing her fingers to raise to her eyes where she massaged the corners of them with a sigh. It had certainly been an exciting past few weeks for the small scientist. After the whole debacle with Starscream was over with, Washu found her laboratory filled the even larger form of Jetfire, who she had graciously agreed to repair. Despite Optimus Prime's suspicions, Washu had hoped for nothing in return, unlike when she went through the trouble of repairing Starscream, but that was because she had learned her lesson. After a couple of days of hard work, Washu found that Jetfire had recuperated enough that he was once again ready to take to the skies. In the confines of her lab, she kept Jetfire hidden away from the rest of the household, then when Jetfire was ready, she snuck him out into the wilderness via teleportation to meet up with the rest of the Autobots, who had taken to hiding in the local town in their vehicle forms; it was dicey at times however, for there were times Ironhide was mistaken for being owned by merchants near the market he hid at.<p>

But, with Jetfire repaired and reunited with his friends, Washu bid the Autobots a friendly farewell, which they returned in kind, after Optimus Prime advised Washu never to become entangled with the Decepticons again. With a humble bow to Optimus Prime before they left, Washu promised that she had learned her lesson in regards to her dealings with Starscream, as well as the other Decepticons, which made her vow never to meddle with them again. But, as she reflected on her last few words with Optimus Prime, Washu giggled slightly to herself with amusement, before she turned her attention away from her laptop to gaze at a large construction bay in the endless space that was her sub space laboratory. Her green eyes fixed on the object in the midst of being built in the construction bay, causing her eyes to sparkle with promise and wonder at the large , Jetfire shaped robot that stood to full height in its robotic form.

"Well," Washu said to herself as she placed a hand on her hip. "I never said anything about Autobots. Ahahahahaha!"

**The End...?**


End file.
